The biggest and brightest moon of the year rose on Wednesday evening, treating onlookers to a cosmic show that relied on an interplay between celestial orbits, physics and a quirk of the human brain.

November’s full moon is dubbed the “Beaver moon” and marks the time of year when the celestial body swings closest to Earth. It’s the second event in a run of three consecutive supermoons.

“Some people do think they’re going a little crazy sometimes when they look up and they see an exceptionally big full moon,” Swinburne University of Technology astrophysicist Sara Webb said.

“It’s most likely a super full moon, and it means that it’s just a little bit closer to the earth than normal, and they are really spectacular.”

The moon’s orbit is an oval, rather than a perfect circle, so there are

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