March super moon on Monday will be one of 2020's closest, brightest

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Friday, March 6, 2020
Top astronomy events for March 2020
Top astronomy events for March 2020The super worm moon will rise on March 9. It gets its name because earthworms reappear when spring is near.

Here's a reason to look forward to Monday - a "super moon" is going to light up the sky.

The moon will look full to the eye on Sunday and Monday with the crest of the full moon falling on Monday. The moon will reach its peak "fullness" around 1:45 p.m.

Earthsky.org says the moon will be 222,081 miles (357,404 km) from the earth. The April 8 super moon will be slightly closer at 221,851 miles away. The most distant full moon of the year will come on Oct. 31 (spooky!). A super moon is a new or full moon that closely coincides with perigee, the moon's closest point to Earth in orbit.

Another full moon supermoon will come on May 7. Three new moon supermoons will come in the fall.

In North America, the March full moon is sometimes called the worm moon. The worm moon origin comes from the ground thawing and worms reappearing in the soil. It's also called the crow moon or sap moon.

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