The coming of spring in the northern hemisphere and autumn in the southern hemisphere will also see the arrive of a Super Worm Moon event.
For those of you lunar photographers out there, tonight might be the night for some awesome captures.
According to Space.com, the Super Worm Moon will “occur on Wednesday, March 20, at 9:43 p.m. EDT (0143 GMT on March 21)” comes after the moon reached perigee (it’s closest point with the Earth) resulting in a so-called “Super Moon.” A “Super Moon” appears 10% larger than the moon normally does, hence its name.
If you’d like to check it out, Space.com has some advice on what you can expect: “Through binoculars or a small telescope the full moon appears very bright; enough that one can still see it with sunglasses. There is no danger to one's eyesight, but details on the lunar surface can be difficult to see due to the lack of contrast. A full moon means we are looking at the surface of the moon at noontime, when there are no shadows at all towards the center of the disk, and few even towards the edges (if one were standing on the center of the moon's face, the sun would be directly overhead). Moon filters are available that can make some features stand out better. Waiting a few days after the full moon or observing a few days before also makes it easier to see the surface features. This is especially true towards the edge of the lunar disk.”
As for the name “Worm Moon,” that comes from the Old Farmer’s Almanac’s description for when “the ground becoming warmer and moist, prompting the return of earthworms and with them, birds.”
Space.com references other names for the Worm Moon, including the Ojibwe “Sugar Moon” and the autumnal Maori “Paengha-whāwhā, which means ‘all straw is now stacked at the borders of the plantations.’”
