There's a huge full moon on this cold night in Maine. When it rose, more than 1,000 glowing white gulls sat on low-tide rocks facing it in the waters by our home. The Moon seems large because it's only a few days from its perigee, the point at which it's closest to the Earth. Right now it's 24,000 miles closer—and appears 14 percent larger—than when it's at its apogee, or farthest away. If you look closely tonight you'll also see Mars rising below it in the eastern sky.
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