The closest and largest full moon of 2013
is happening right after the summer solstice.

If the weather in Grand Marais cooperates this weekend, you are in for a treat: the 2013 supermoon. That’s the  one day of the year when the full moon is closest to the earth. For this weekend’s supermoon, the moon will be 221,823 miles from the earth. (That’s 356,991 kilometers for our Canadian friends.) Usually, the moon is 226,179 miles (364,000 kilometers) from the earth.

What that really means, though, is that the moon will be 8% larger and 17% brighter than usual. And a supermoon coinciding with the solstice only happens once every 14 years or so.

Of course, the best way to view a full moon is from a kayak on the East Bay. You can do that with our Full Moon Kayak Tour.

Interested in learning more about the supermoon? Check out this article from National Greographic.

Want to snap a great picture of this year’s supermoon? Check out these photography tips from Wired. And if you do get a fantastic shot of the moon, we’d love to feature it on a future blog entry. Just send it to us at info@stoneharborws.com.

You can watch a free webcast of the 2013 supermoon on SPACE.COM on Sunday, June 23rd at 8 pm, Grand Marais time. The supermoon will be seen through the SLOOH telescopes in the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, where presumably the weather is more cooperative for supermoon viewing than it is off the North Shore of Minnesota.