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[slate]

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[slate]

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So a supermoon

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is the closest full moon of the year. Now what makes this particular supermoon

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coming up this weekend so special is that it's going to be the closest full moon

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we've that had since 1948. So it's an opportunity to go out and see a

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beautiful show in the night sky.

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[slate]

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The best time to see the supermoon is really anytime over the weekend and early into next

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week. As long as it's clear out, you're away from

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tall buildings, trees and the sun has gone down

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the moon will be up in the sky. You can go out and see the supermoon.

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There's no one moment in time that you have to be outside. So if it's cloudy Saturday night

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definitely try to go out Sunday night and see it. Or even into Monday night. What will make this

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supermoon so special is that because it's going to be close, we'll have, it'll be a

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14 percent larger than the smallest full moon. but also 30 percent

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brighter than the smallest full moon. So you'll see this bright, beautiful show in the show.

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[slate]

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One of the biggest surprises

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coming back from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission - LRO - is that

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we're able to detect the changes that are occurring on the lunar surface that are occurring essentially

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today, or over the last seven years. We're seeing new impact craters that are

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forming across the lunar surface. Now the effect of these new impact craters is to

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erase surface features. And so the boot prints that were left by the Apollo astronauts

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over 45 years ago are being erased at a rate much faster than we

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expected before. Before LRO we thought they'd be around for millions of years. And it turns out

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they're be erased after several tens of thousands of years. And so one of the things

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that we're learning is the moon is a much more dynamic place than we knew before. And for that

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reason it's a fascinating place.

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[slate]

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One of the amazing things that we've learned recently especially for

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places like Pluto is that surfaces of planets are very dynamic.

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We never expected that Pluto would have smooth surfaces that appear to be very young.

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And the reason that we think those surfaces are so young is because we've been to the moon.

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We use our understanding the moon to apply that knowledge across the solar system. So whether you're looking at

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Pluto or Mercury, our knowledge of the moon informs how we understand how planets

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work.

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[slate] To learn more

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about LRO you can go to NASA.gov/LRO. Of course you can also follow us

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on Twitter @LRO_NASA. And please post your pictures

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of the supermoon using hashtag #NASAsupermoon.