NEW YORK (AP) — The moon will appear slightly larger and brighter Monday night during what's known as a supermoon.
October's supermoon is the first of three this year. It happens when a full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. That makes the moon look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest moon of the year, according to NASA. The subtle difference happens a few times a year, sometimes coinciding with other astronomical events such as lunar eclipses.
“It's not really very unusual,” said Derrick Pitts, chief astronomer with the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
Everyone in the world can see a supermoon without special equipment if clear skies permit. But the difference can be tough to discern, especially if people haven’t observed the regular moon on the nights leading up.
“If you go out and just look at the moon when it’s very high in the sky, there is nothing relative to it to give you an idea of how big it looks,” Pitts said.
In the latest viewing, the moon will pass within about 224,600 miles (361,459 kilometers) of Earth. The closest supermoon of the year is slated for November, followed by another in December.
The spectacles continue in 2026 with two lunar eclipses: a total eclipse across much of North America, Asia and Australia in March, and a partial one in August across the Americas, Africa and Europe.
The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The AP is solely responsible for all content.
FILE - The moon rises in the sky over a freeway as drivers pass between Haifa and Tel Aviv, Israel, Wednesday, Sept. 18, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit, File)
FILE - The full moon rises in the over a beer sign in the outfield at Kauffman Stadium during a baseball game between the Kansas City Royals and the Detroit Tigers, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2024, in Kansas City, Mo. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
A Mega Millions player in Georgia won the $980 million jackpot on Friday, overcoming abysmal odds to win the huge prize.
The numbers selected were 1, 8, 11, 12 and 57 with the gold Mega Ball 7.
The winner overcame Mega Millions' astronomical odds of 1 in 290.5 million by matching all six numbers. The next drawing will be on Tuesday.
A winner can choose an annuity or the cash option — a one-time, lump-sum payment of $452.2 million before taxes. If there are multiple jackpot winners, the prize is shared.
There were four Mega Millions jackpot wins earlier this year, but Friday’s drawing was the 40th since the last win on June 27, a game record, officials said.
In September, two Powerball players in Missouri and Texas won a nearly $1.8 billion jackpot, one of the largest in the U.S. The current Mega Millions jackpot isn’t among the top 10 U.S. lottery jackpots but would be the eighth-largest for Mega Millions since the game began in 2002.
Mega Millions offers lesser prizes in addition to the jackpot. The odds of winning any of these is 1 in 23.
There were more than 800,000 winners of non-jackpot prizes from the Nov. 11 drawing.
Tickets are $5 each and are sold in 45 states, Washington, D.C., and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Half the proceeds from each Mega Millions ticket remains in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Local lottery agencies run the game in each jurisdiction and how profits are spent is dictated by law.
Sometimes gambling can become addictive.
The National Council on Problem Gambling defines problem gambling as “gambling behavior that is damaging to a person or their family, often disrupting their daily life and career.”
It is sometimes called gambling addiction or gambling disorder, a recognized mental health diagnosis. The group says anyone who gambles can be at risk.
Its National Problem Gambling Helpline, 1-800-522-4700, connects anyone seeking assistance with a gambling problem to local resources.
FILE - Mega Millions Lottery play slips are displayed for customers at a convenience store in Chicago, Sunday, April 6, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)
