Mini-Moon Graces The Sky On Earth Day 2016

On Earth Day, the world witnessed another amazing celestial event -- the mini-moon. There have been so many kinds of moons lately that you may be asking yourself: what is a mini-moon, exactly?

A mini-moon, which can also be called a micro-moon or an apogee moon, happens when the full moon or a new moon happens at the same time that it is approaching its apogee. But what is an apogee? Simply put, is the point where the moon's orbit is at its farthest away from Earth. The closest point, on the other hand, is called the perigee.

Looking up at April's full #pinkmoon? Share & upload your photos of this weekend's #minimoon https://t.co/1ggHgEia4U pic.twitter.com/E558zjs0sk

— The Weather Network (@weathernetwork) April 22, 2016

While the moon does not change its size, the mini-moon still looks a lot smaller than usual because it is further away. According to Bustle, the mini-moon appeared 14 percent smaller than usual. However, because part of the moon is illuminated, it actually looks 30 percent smaller from the ground.

This may seem unusual to many, but according to EarthSky.org, the moon appears bigger or smaller every year due to the rotation of its orbit. Each mini-moon is also said to return one month and 18 days later every year, which means that another mini-moon can be seen on Earth on June 9, 2017. The supermoon -- which occurs when the moon is at its closest to earth -- will occur on November 14 this year, so that's something to look forward to.

To put things in perspective, the moon is typically 238,855 miles away from the earth. During the mini-moon, it's about 250,000 miles away, while astronomers computed that the supermoon this November will have the moon parking at only 221,524 miles away -- which means that it will look massive from the Earth.

Don't miss the supermoon, though -- Bustle noted that after this November's event, the moon will not be that close to Earth again until late 2034.