Full moon and then some!

Thanks to a fluke of orbital mechanics that brings the moon closer to Earth than that it has been in more than 18 years, the biggest full moon of 2011 will occur tonight. This afternoon at 3 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, the moon will arrive at its closest point to the Earth in 2011: a distance of 221,565 miles away.

At its peak, the supermoon of March may appear 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than lesser full moons (when the moon is at its farthest from Earth), weather permitting. Yet to the casual observer, it may be hard to tell the difference.

A supermoon does not cause natural disasters, such as the Japan earthquake, a NASA scientist has stressed. The moon has not been in a position to appear this large since March 1993. So grab your S.O. and find some place to bask in the moonlight. Moonrise is officially 7:49 p.m.

Speaking of natural phenomenons that are ours for the viewing - sunrise, at this time of year, is at it's latest - which means one doesn't have to get up in what seems like the middle of the night in order to see it! Sunrise tomorrow is around 7:30 a.m. Now that's do-able!