The closest supermoon since 1948 is lighting up skies. The phenomenon reached its most luminescent in North America before dawn on Monday. It then hits its peak in Asia and the South Pacific on Monday night, and after midnight Tuesday across the international dateline in New Zealand. The moon orbits the Earth on an oval path, and a supermoon occurs when the moon’s elliptical orbit brings it closest to Earth. It will appear about 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than it does when it is farthest from Earth. The next supermoon this bright will occur in 18 years.