Tonight's supermoon: The biggest full moon of 2025 lights up the sky

Tonight's full moon will be the largest of the year, known as a "supermoon," China Media Group reported.

The moon will appear perfectly round at around 9:19 p.m. on Wednesday, and about nine hours later, at 6:27 a.m. on Thursday, it will arrive at its closest point to Earth, or perigee, at a distance of about 357,000 kilometers. This will be the closest full moon of 2025.

The best time to enjoy the view will be within the first hour after moonrise. When the moon has just risen above the horizon, the human brain naturally perceives objects near the horizon as larger. With buildings or trees as visual references, the "supermoon" will look even bigger and more magnificent than when it is high in the sky – a phenomenon known as the "moon illusion," according to the Beijing Planetarium.

In Beijing, the moon will rise around 4:40 p.m. on Wednesday, shortly before sunset at 5:04 p.m., and will set at about 7:32 a.m. on Thursday. While the moon will be visible throughout most of the night, the first hour after sunset is considered the "golden window" for observation.

The moon orbits Earth in an elliptical path, with its closest point called the perigee (less than 360,000 kilometers away) and its farthest point called the apogee (over 400,000 kilometers away). A supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon's perigee. During this time, the moon appears larger and brighter than usual.

The largest full moon and the smallest full moon differ in diameter by about 14 percent and in surface area by roughly 30 percent. While these differences are significant from a numerical standpoint, they are not easily noticeable to the naked eye, according to Kou Wen, senior engineer at the Beijing Planetarium.

In total, there will be three supermoons in 2025 – on October 7, November 5 and December 5.