GREENBELT, MD (WENY)-- The Harvest Moon will illuminate tonight's sky as this one will shine brighter and appear bigger. Space enthusiasts are in for a treat as the supermoon will overlap with the partial lunar eclipse. 

''The supermoon overlaps with the lunar eclipse about every three years. Usually, it's a partial eclipse. A lunar eclipse will always happen on a full moon and they occur about every 6 months. There are about 3 or 4 supermoons a year, '' said Ernie Wright, an employee at the Scientific Visualization Studio at NASA.

Tonight's full moon will be the second out four supermoons to occur this year. The next two will happen in October and November. A supermoon appears bigger and brighter in the night's sky since it's closest to the earth in its orbit. This part of the orbit is called the perigee. 

Wright says that the normal distance between Earth and the moon is an average of 238,900 miles, while this month's full moon will be just 222,637 miles. When the moon is at its perigee, the full Moons appear about 14% bigger and 30% brighter than full Moons that occur near apogee in the Moon's orbit.

''The moon is not going to travel along the center of the Earth's shadow. It will just skim along the edge. What you might see is a little bit of red, a really dark red or brown on the edge of the moon, ''said Ernie Wright.

This month's full moon is called the Harvest Moon because it is closest to the Autumn Equinox. It's a reference to when many farmers would depend on the moon's light when harvesting their crops.

The partial lunar eclipse will be visible to the naked eye between 10:12 p.m. and 11:15 p.m. . The next eclipse will totally block the moon in March of next year.