Saturday’s Moon will be a “supermoon” and all that means is that the full Moon will look big and bright because it’s nearer to us than it is normally.

News outlets are stressing that there is nothing to be afraid of because the Moon isn’t suddenly going to take a nosedive into our planet or cause chaos. How can we be certain we have nothing to fear? Supermoons are a phenomenon that occur once a year on average according to this National Geographic article and we are all still here reading this having lived through many supermoons.

Phil Plait, an astronomer, skeptic, and founder of the Bad Astronomy blog which is now linked to Discover Magazine’s website, is going one step further and calling it “hype.”  He is slightly aggravated that the world is even discussing the supermoon because he thought he had done his job debunking it as “nonsense” last year.

Like Plait, NASA released an itty-bitty two question article last year that reiterated the entire lack of affect the supermoon has on Earth. It won’t affect the tides or the Earth’s internal energy balance.

Last year’s supermoon was reportedly “the closest supermoon in two decades, when the moon was a mere 221,565 miles (356,575 kilometers) from Earth.” This year’s is suppose to be 221,801 miles (356,955 kilometers) from us. But the way this “larger” Moon is made possible is always the same it has to do with its elliptical or egg-shaped orbit.  

The orbit always has a point when the Moon is closest to the Earth and that’s called the perigee. When the Moon is at perigree and full we get a “supermoon.” Not to be confused with: when the Moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie and we get amore.

This weekend the Moon should be pretty to gaze at and photograph but if you are already an avid moon-watcher it may be nothing special to you.

Commenters on Plait’s recent blog are calling him “jaded” and “elitist” for making the event which could encourage an interest in nature and science sound underwhelming. Plait responded to the attacks by saying: “Elitist? I actually make a big point in the last paragraph to let people know they should go out and observe it! My problem with this whole thing is that 1) it’s based on nonsense, b) you can’t see the difference, and γ) it’s being overhyped. It’s an interesting thing, sure, but I’m seeing a lot of ZOMG HUGE MOON kind of stuff. It’s silly.”