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Supermoon watched in Lebanon

Xinhua, November 15, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Lebanese among the rest of the people in the world witnessed Monday night the moon in its closest distance to earth since Jan. 26, 1948 and would not be so close again until in Nov. 25, 2034 as NASA said.

A supermoon happens when a full moon or new moon coincides with the moon's closest approach to Earth; also called perigee. A super full moon looks around 12 to 14 percent bigger than the micromoon.

Ramzi Abou Rjeili from the Deir el Qamar town of Mount Lebanon was among those who gathered in the streets of the town to watch the supermoon.

"Every seven decades the moon looks so big, and as the media said it would be closer to earth for about 315,000 kilometers than its normal distance to Earth," Abou Rjeili told Xinhua.

"For us in Deir el-Qamar (monastery of the moon in English) we are used to watching the moon, but it is the first time I see it so big," he added. Endit