Astronomers have announced that Friday, a full moon will occur, and it will be the closest to Earth than it has been in the last 15 years.

Because the Moon has an elliptical orbit, its distance from the Earth cannot possibly be constant. During this full Moon, it has been estimated that the Moon will be only 350,000 km from Earth.

This proximity will occur as the Moon passes over the northern hemisphere. The distance estimated is 30,000 km closer than the usual distances registered so far. According to astronomers, people can expect the Moon to be a lot brighter and appear larger than it usually does.

According to the most recent calculations, it seems that the moon may even appear 14% bigger than we usually perceive it to be, and up to a whopping 30% brighter than all the other full moons we witnessed this year.

Because of the elliptical orbit of the Moon, the Moon does not follow the circular path one would expect, but rather an oval one. Currently, the Moon is approaching a point on its oval orbit that allows it to be the closest to the Earth.

According to Marek Kukula, an astronomer with the United Kingdom’s Royal Observatory, “It's only every few years that a full moon happens to coincide with the part of the Moon's orbit when its closest to the Earth. What people will see is a full moon that's really bright and a bit bigger than what they're used to.”