The visually largest full moon of 2019 will rise in the east near dusk this evening.

It is a supermoon, which is a full moon that occurs when the moon is at perigee, or closest orbital point to the Earth, during its monthly orbit. The full moon in February is also known as the “snow moon” or “hunger moon,” with the names attributed to folklore, but derived from the language of Indigenous people of North America, as well as European settlers.

While there are a few “supermoon” occurrences a year, this February full moon occurs closest to the exact perigee than any other full moon through 2019. The next supermoon will be on March 21, but with the moon at an orbital distance 3926 km greater than today.

To the naked eye, the visual increase in size compared to a non-supermoon full moon is negligible. Still, regular observers of full moons may note a slight difference, and the difference is certainly evident if comparing photographs or images.

The moonrise across the Maritimes Tuesday evening will generally occur between 5:40 p.m. and 6:10 p.m. in the east.

moonrise times

Best viewing conditions will be after sunset has completed and away from city lights. Cloud conditions are favourable for viewing, with large areas of the Maritime night sky clear, or with just a few clouds present. Some broken cloudiness will persist for Cape Breton through the evening.

It will be a cold evening and night so bundle up if heading out to do some supermoon viewing. Evening temperatures will be several degrees below 0 or even in the minus teens. The wind chill will make it feel near -20 for many areas.

moon

Should you want to share a picture of the supermoon tonight I’d love to see and share them! Pictures can be sent to kalin.mitchell@bellmedia.ca, via Twitter @kalinmitchelCTV, or posted at www.facebook.com/kalinCTV.

Happy viewing!