‘Full worm supermoon’ (and asteroids) set for Wednesday. Here’s what you need to know

Mar 20, 2019

The final supermoon of the year will happen on Wednesday, and it’s a little unique compared to previous ones.

The upcoming supermoon will coincide with the spring equinox, which marks the official beginning of spring.

The two astronomical events will occur on Wednesday. The equinox happens at 3:58 p.m. MT, while the full moon and supermoon will show at 7:43 p.m. MT, according to EarthSky.

Significance: The equinox signifies the moment when the sun shines directly on the equator, according to USA Today. Like the autumnal equinox, the Earth will experience 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness.

• At the same time, Wednesday will be the third time this year that the moon is closer to Earth than usual, which happens during a supermoon.

Bottom line: “The moon will look most spectacular just as it appears above the eastern horizon late Wednesday afternoon, even though the precise moment the moon is full is a few hours later,” according to USA Today.

Flashback: The last time these two events coincided was in March 1981, according to CNN.

Worms: Funny enough, March’s full moon has a nickname: Full Worm Moon.

• “Traditional and Native American names for each full moon of the year are derived by how they helped to track the seasons. In this case, the ground began to soften in March so that earthworms could appear, drawing more birds to feed,” CNN reported.

Asteroids: In case you wanted more, the event will happen as an asteroid passes close to Earth, according to the Minor Planet Center. The asteroid will fly by Earth at 190,246 miles away, which is actually closer than the moon. Of course, experts expected the asteroid to pass without incident sometime between March 21 and March 22, CNN reported.