Stargazers have been treated to a trio of Supermoons in 2019. The new year kicked-off with an awe-inspiring Super Blood Wolf Moon casting an eerie crimson colour and this was followed with February’s Super Snow Moon. And the third successive Supermoon loomed in the skies, inspiring snappers to capture incredible photographs.
Wednesday night’s celestial light show was made all the more special because it coincides with the Spring Equinox and the beginning of Spring.
The 2019 Spring Equinox marks the exact moment in Earth’s orbit when the Sun crosses the celestial equator.
And the opportunity to watch a Full Moon rise at the time of the equinox made this Super Worm Moon particularly special.
Wednesday’s rising Full Moon was slightly larger and a little brighter than normal because the Moon is approaching its closest approach to the Earth on its monthly orbit.
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Why is it called a Super Worm Equinox Moon?
Last night’s Full Moon is astronomical event dubbed a Super Worm Equinox Moon.
The Moon earned this unusual moniker from the Native American tribes, reports the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The Super Moon is named after the earthworms traditionally thought to reappear from the soil at the point in the season.
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The Super Worm Equinox Moon was the smallest of 2019’s three Supermoons, because perigee occured at 7.47pm GMT.
At perigee – the point in the orbit of the moon or a satellite at which it is nearest to the earth – the Moon was 224,173 miles (360,772 kms) distant from Earth.
A Full Moon is declared when the lunar disk is on the opposite side to Earth as the Sun, and totally illuminated by the Sun.
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What is a Supermoon?
Supermoons appear when a Full Moon aligns with the point closest to the Earth during its elliptical orbit.
The term Supermoon was only first coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle.
The astrological phenomenon is strictly defined as “a new or Full Moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90 percent of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit”.
This means the Moon has to be approximately 226,000 miles distant from the Earth to be classified as super.
And it is because of the Moon’s relative proximity to Earth that the celestial satellite’s surface appears significantly larger when a Supermoon occurs.
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