Beaver supermoon rises over Senegal's capital Dakar

The Beaver supermoon was seen over Senegal's capital Dakar on Wednesday night.

The moon's orbit around the Earth isn't a perfect circle, so it gets nearer and farther as it swings around.

A so-called supermoon 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.

November's supermoon is the second of three supermoons this year and also the closest: The moon will come within just under 222,000 miles (357,000 kilometers) of Earth.

No special equipment is needed to view the supermoon if clear skies permit. But the change in the moon's size can be tough to discern with the naked eye.

Supermoons happen a few times a year. One in October made the moon look somewhat larger, and another in December will be the last of the year.