KOKINOS SKYLOS: full moon

The biggest and brightest full moon of the year is lighting up the sky tonight as our celestial neighbour passes closer to Earth than usual.
Tides are likely to be higher as a result of the supermoon but fears of a spike in crime or an increase in crazy behaviour have been dismissed as pure folklore.
Experts say the Moon will appear up to 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter as it passes 221,802 miles from earth, around 15,300 miles closer than average. Its distance from Earth varies because it follows an elliptical orbit rather than a circular one.
The phenomenon is known as a perigee full moon but astronomers warn the 'relatively uncommon' celestial event may not amount to much.

Glowing guide: A runner makes his way along a trail in front of the once-a-year 'super Moon' at Papago Park in Phoenix, Arizona

Northern Florida: The moon peaks out behind Century Tower at the University of Florida in Gainesville

Beacon: Fishermen near Bal Harbour in Florida rest on a jetty as the moon rises in the Atlantic Ocean

Spotlight: The 'supermoon' shines its light on the temporarily closed Hotel Pere Marquette in Peoria, Ill

Ontario moon: The 'super Moon' is seen rising over the skyline in Toronto, offering a without a doubt unparalleled sight to those in the city's tall CN tower (left)

Brighter: The full moon rises like the Sun from the top of Haramoun mountain, as seen from Marjayoun village in south Lebanon earlier

Replica: The full moon provides a stunning backdrop for Kosovo's answer to New York's Statue of Liberty on top a hotel in the capital Pristina this evening

Towering: This apartment block in Bucharest proved a great place to view the supermoon as it illuminated the night sky

View from the gods: The supermoon rises earlier today above the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, south east of Athens, Greece, while tourists watch on

Holy night: The brighter than normal moon was clear for all to see in Amman as a flock of birds flew over a mosque

Clear as day: Even before night fell over Dresden, eastern Germany, the moon was looking incredible behind the Church of Our Lady

Almost full: The moon is obscured by the cross of Frauenkirche (Church of Our Lady) in Dresden, Germany, this evening

But scientists say that no matter how far away a full moon is, it is not going to cause natural disasters or make people go crazy, commit crimes or do anything else that popular belief suggests.
Psychologist Scott Lilienfeld, of Emory University in the US, said the notion of full moons causing bizarre behavior is one of the biggest myths because 'it's so widely held and it's held with such conviction.'
He said a reason people cling to the idea could be the way people pay attention to things. If something unusual happens to occur during a full moon, people who believe the myth take note and remember, he argued.

Supermoon: The full moon appears pink as it appears behind statues of angels at St. Isaak's Cathedral in St.Petersburg, Russia, this evening

Hiding: Seen from Cartagena, Colombia, it can hardly be concealed behind the heavy clouds

Positioning: Other locations in Cartagena, shown, had a more clear view of its enormous sight

Bigger and brighter: The silhouette of a kite makes its way across the moon as it flies past a mosque in Amman tonight

Celestial neighbour: The supermoon in fill view in the sky above South Africa's largest city Johannesburg

Star gazing: The phenomenon is known as a perigee full moon but astronomers warn the 'relatively uncommon' celestial event may not amount to much

But when another full moon appears and nothing out of the ordinary occurs, 'they're not very likely to remember' or point it out to others. So in the end, he said, all they remember are the coincidences.
The last supermoon, on March 19 last year, was about 240 miles closer than this year's will be. Next year's will be a bit farther away than this year's.
It will bring unusually high tides because of its closeness and its alignment with the Sun and Earth, and Dr Massey explained: 'When the moon is closest to the Earth and full or new, you get an increase in the tidal pull in the ocean because the gravity of the moon and the sun line-up.