IN PHOTOS: The last Supermoon of 2019

MANILA, Philippines – Filipinos missed the full spectacle of the third and last supermoon of the year, which reached its full phase at 9:42 am on Thursday, March 21 (Manila time). 

The supermoon appears bigger in the night sky, said an AFP report, “when the moon reaches its fullest phase at the same time as it reaches its closest point to Earth. It creates an optical illusion, seeming bigger and brighter than normal.”

“At perigree, when the moon is at its closest point to Earth, the supermoon can appear up to 14% bigger and 30 % lighter than when the moon is farthest from our planet.”

In 2019, skywatchers witnessed two previous supermoons – on January 21 and February 19.

The March supermoon is called a worm moon – the term used by Europeans and Native Americans to describe a full moon in March. In ancient meteorology, it is the time of year when earthworms surface as the earth thaws post-winter.

Here’s how the supermoon looked in the Philippines and other parts of the world.

– Rappler.com