PHOENIX — Nearly a month after January's "Super Wolf Blood Moon" illuminated the moon (and social media) in a red-orange hue, February's full moon will bring the largest and brightest "supermoon" of the year.
The full moon -- also dubbed the "Snow Moon" -- will peak on Tuesday morning, Feb. 19, at 8:54 a.m. Arizona time (10:54 a.m. EDT), according to NASA. It will be at its closest point to Earth, called "perigee," at 2:04 a.m. Arizona time (4:04 EDT). That's a bit early!
So, if you're looking to see it at night, stargazers can look up at the sky on Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday evenings where the moon will appear full.
It looks like the weather forecast will be in our favor. The skies could remain mostly clear through Wednesday night, aside from a few clouds here and there. You can track the forecast, here.
"Unlike when a comet comes over and where you have to say 'go to a dark sky, and it's between this constellation and that one, and if you look right here with a pair of binoculars you night be able to see it,' it is the moon, a full moon; it's going to be big and it's not going to matter where you are," Travis Deyoe, a senior instructional specialist at the University of Arizona Mt. Lemmon SkyCenter, told ABC15 last month ahead of the "super wolf blood moon" phenomenon.
The moon will also appear to have a star following it. That star is called "Regulus" and is part of the "Leo" constellation, according to NASA.
Planets Venus, Saturn and Jupiter will also be visible, NASA said, with Venus being the brightest of the three. Venus will be seen in the southeastern sky 12 degrees above the horizon. Saturn will appear 1.5 degrees to the right of Venus. Jupiter will be in the south-southeastern sky 25 degrees above the horizon. Read more.
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the February moon was given the "Snow Moon" moniker "due to the typically heavy snowfall of February." It may also be referred to as the "Crow Moon, Crust Moon, Sap Moon, Sugar Moon, or Worm Moon," because it is the last full moon of the winter season, wrote NASA's Gordon Johnston in an online article.
The third -- and final -- "supermoon" of the year comes next month, March 20, hours after the spring equinox, according to Earthsky.org.
