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When to watch the Super Snow Moon
Feb 18, 2019, 8:45 AM | Updated: 3:26 pm
According to NASA Ambassador to Utah Patrick Wiggins, a full eclipse of the moon will take place early Tuesday morning. Wiggins says, weather permitting, all of Utah should be able to view it.
SALT LAKE CITY – If you think the moon is brighter than normal recently, you’re right. That’s because we’re in store for what NASA is calling the biggest super moon of 2019, also called a ‘Super Snow Moon’.
What is a Super Snow Moon?
If you missed the Super Blood Wolf Moon in January, mark your calendars for Tuesday night so you won’t miss your chance to catch this big lunar event.
The ‘Super Snow Moon’ is the culmination of two lunar events: the first being a super moon, and the second being the ‘Snow Moon’.
A super moon happens when the moon is both at its closest point during orbit and is a full moon.
This makes the moon look both brighter and bigger as it makes its way across the night sky.
Tuesday’s super moon is also a ‘Snow Moon’, a term that has historically been given to the second full moon of winter given by Native American tribes across the northern and eastern US.
NASA says the name came from the heavy snowfalls during January and February which made hunting difficult giving the ‘Snow Moon’ its other name, the ‘Hunger Moon’.
When’s the best time to see the Super Snow Moon?
At around 2 a.m. MST the moon will reach the closest point to the earth that it will be throughout 2019 and at 8:35 a.m. MST it will reach its peak fullness.
That means that we might not be able to see the moon when it hits peak fullness, but never fear, moonrise begins in and around the valley at 6:26 p.m. and, according to timeanddate.com is going to be at 99.8% illumination.
If you’re looking for the best time to snag an Instagram-worthy photo of the super moon, catching it as close to moonrise will be your best bet due to an optical illusion that makes the moon look larger the closer it is to the horizon.
