13 full moons to light up the sky this year, two of them ‘super’
Moonwatchers will have a special year in 2020, with 13 full moons to brighten the night sky, including two supermoons, four lunar eclipses and even a blue moon.
This spring features two supermoons back to back, in March and April. A supermoon occurs when the moon is especially close to Earth while it’s full. April’s supermoon is set to be the bigger of the two, according to space.com.
The moon’s closeness to Earth, naturally, makes it look extra-close and extra-bright – up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a full moon at its farthest point from Earth.
There also will be three more penumbral lunar eclipses this year, in addition to the one we had Jan. 10.
Not as spectacular – or noticeable – as a total lunar eclipse, a penumbral lunar eclipse is a rather subtle phenomenon that occurs when the full moon moves through the outer part of Earth’s shadow (known as the penumbra), according to EarthSky.org.
About 35% of all eclipses are of the penumbral type, which can be difficult to detect even with a telescope, according to eclipse expert Fred Espenak.
Two of the three – the ones in July and November – will be visible in the U.S., NASA said.
But October might be the main moon event of the year.
The month will have two full moons, including one on Halloween night. The next time we’ll see an equally spooky moon is 2039. Plan your werewolf costumes accordingly.
The Halloween full moon will be a blue moon, because it’s the second full moon of the month, which is one of the definitions of a blue moon.