Supermoon not so super after all

Stargazers braving the cold to catch of a glimpse of Sunday'ssupermoon may be disappointed to learn it's not as thrilling as everyone believes.

The so-called supermoon will be the closest a full moon has been to Earth since 1948. Tonight and tomorrow's full moon will be brighter and larger but maybe not to the naked eye.

"You probably aren't going to notice a difference between this and a normal full moon," said Dr. Kelly Lepo, a coordinator with the McGill University's Space Institute.

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However, the supermoon is still exciting for Montrealers like Chris Holmes, who has plans with his family to bundle up with some hot chocolate and watch it from their roof. He says it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"It certainly makes you think this might the only time in your life you'll see it this close," he said. "If it's been since the 1940s, this is the brightest and closest the moon's ever been...that's pretty special, right?"

But apparently the supermoon is not a phenomenon, nor does it represent a particularly spectacular moment for those whoselife's work revolves around the stars.

"To an astronomer, it's not particularly exciting," said Lepo.

No real term for it

The term supermoon isn't even based in science,according to Lepo.

Astrologers, who studystars and zodiac signs to tell fortunes, first coined the term in the 1970s.

Lepo says the term only gained traction again as recently as 2011 when people began sharing photos taken with telephoto lenses.

"It blew up in popularity due to Facebook and so us astronomers were not even aware that this term existed until a few years ago," said Lepo. "But if it's something that gets people to look up, we're more than happy to talk about it."

To most scientists, however, it'sjust a regular full moon.

"Astronomers would refer to it as a full moon when the moon is closest to the Earth," she said. "There's no particular term for it."

On the bright side, it will still be pretty.

"If the clouds stay away, it should be a pretty spectacular full moon, not filling up the entire night's sky but still a quite nice-looking full moon," said Lepo.