Full moon over Vancouver / Shutterstock
Last month Vancouverites were privy to the awe-inspiring super blood wolf moon with a total lunar eclipse - a spectacular 'supermoon' and total lunar eclipse combination.
Now, local stargazers may feast their eyes on the biggest full moon of the year - the February 'snow' moon.
While it is a moon of many names across the continent and across the world, this month's offering is decidedly large. Not only does it qualify as a 'supermoon' - meaning that the moon will look a whopping 15 per cent brighter and seven per cent bigger than a regular full moon due to its proximity to earth - but it is the biggest of the three 'supermoons' this year.
EarthSky notes that astronomers usually refer to 'supermoons' as perigean full moons – a term that simply refers to the moon being ‘near earth.’
Commonly known as the Full Snow Moon, the celestial event will likely coincide with snowfall in the Lower Mainland. With that being said, visibility may decrease for the full moon as the sky's increasing cloudiness obscures the view. Nevertheless, the moon will appear particularly large and radiant, and therefore it is still likely to illuminate the surrounding area.
Stargazers should opt to travel as far away from city lights as possible in order to avoid light pollution that will obscure the clarity of heavenly bodies. While this works best the in more remote places, anywhere that has a higher elevation will also provide more ideal viewing conditions.
