The supermoon is here and it’s 'spectacular,' says astronomer
Get your cameras ready: The supermoon (a.k.a, “worm moon”) will make its anticipated appearance on Monday, March 9, casting a beautiful warm glow in the sky.
The event occurs when the moon, “our cosmic partner,” is full and at its closest point to the Earth, appearing bigger and brighter. “Everybody gets all romantic about the sunrise and the sunset but a moonrise and a moonset can be very dramatic and exciting,” Jackie Faherty, PhD, an astronomer at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “They are spectacular.”
It takes about 28 days for the moon to circle the Earth and during its orbit, it gets closer or farther from the Earth, explains Faherty. (the closest point of the moon’s orbit is about 226,000 miles away, reports NASA).
“It’s not a perfect circle,” she says. “If it’s full — meaning, all of the sun’s light is hitting the face that faces us — and if it’s at its closest approach when that happens, it will appear a little bit brighter and maybe a smidge bigger.” And the color can appear orange or blue, depending on its location.
The moon has other exciting phases, according to NASA. A “blood moon” appears when the moon is concealed from the sunlight in a total lunar eclipse, and the “harvest moon” is a full moon that appears when Fall kicks off. “The name dates from the time before electricity, when farmers depended on the Moon's light to harvest their crops late into the night,” explains NASA.
ABC News reports that the first supermoon of 2020 appeared on February 9 and after this weekend, we’ll see it again on April 8 and May 7.
Read more from Yahoo Lifestyle:
On 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 landing, here's why 'moon truthers' still exist
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