March 11, 2020, 04:44 AM
If the moon appears unusually huge and bright these few nights in March 2020, you're absolutely right.
The full moon on March 9 was actually a supermoon, and on March 11, it will be your last chance to catch the first supermoon of the year.
What's a supermoon?
The phenomenon happens when a full moon appears bigger and brighter as it is at the closest distance to Earth.
There are typically three to four supermoons in a year.
Supermoons are 7 per cent bigger and 15 per cent brighter than a usual full moon, according to Forbes.
According to NASA, there are four full moons that qualify as supermoons in 2020.
The next supermoon will be on April 7 and 8 and it will be slightly closer to the Earth, which makes it the biggest moon of 2020.
Here are some photos taken by those who managed to catch the supermoons:
Photo taken by William Ng via Nature Society Facebook Group.
Photo taken by William Ng via Nature Society Facebook Group.
Photo taken by William Ng via Nature Society Facebook Group.
Photo taken by Bennett Tan via Nature Society Facebook Group.
The moon might appear orange because light rays have to travel through more particles and the ones with shorter wavelengths, such as blue rays, will be scattered off.
This results in more orange or red light entering our eyes and we see the moon with an orange tint.
https://twitter.com/QiqoNan/status/1237408364553879553
yesterday’s moon vs today’s moon 🥰🥰 pic.twitter.com/XAMSaDFDMN
— 딸기왕자님 (@FOOL4TAEM) March 10, 2020
https://twitter.com/EI_RCurran/status/1236987437257121792
https://twitter.com/AnnaZefferys/status/1237413988054360064
La Lune 🌕
— Marwella Zhang 🚀🎨 📸 🏎 (@MarvabluesF1) March 10, 2020
Finally, the sky is clear and I could try my new lens on the moon pic.twitter.com/pHxcl29jYC
https://twitter.com/minmeowwww/status/1237379536192323587
Fun facts about March's supermoon
In the United States, there are many names given to this supermoon in March.
As this is supposedly the last full moon, it is also called the Crow Moon by the northern tribes in the U.S., as the cawing of crows signals the end of the winter.
It is also called the Crust Moon as this is the time when the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing in the day and freezing at night.
It is also called the Sap/ Sugar Moon as this is the time to harvest maple syrup.
The southern tribes call this moon the Worm Moon as the earthworms appear after the ground thaws.
Top photos by William Ng via Nature Society Facebook Group & @minmeowwww
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