The full moon in February is known as the Snow Moon because this month normally has the heaviest snow fall which in turn made hunting difficult. To some of the indigenous people, this became the Hunger Moon.

About once every 19 years, February does not have a Full Moon, which by some has been called a Black Moon.

In 2018, this was the case in most time zones, no Snow Moon. Instead, January and March both had two Full Moons each, creating a double Blue Moon.

Leaving the bottom of Texas, I drive north on IH 69C to Alice, then east on SG 44 to Corpus Christi, then east on Padre Island Drive to the national seashore where I take up a campsite for the night.

After my shower and donning clean clothes, I take a walk down the boardwalk for some photos of the beach along the Gulf of Mexico. Returning to work on my computer, I notice that the moon is already one hand above the eastern horizon so I pick up my camera, walk back to the boardwalk and take some photos.

The last time the moon was closer than the 19 February 2019 super moon was on 14 November 2016 and the next super moon that will be even closer than the 2016 super moon will not be until 25 November 2034. Before 2016, the full moon that was closer to the earth that all the others, occurred on 04 January 1912.

Super Moon 221,462 miles from earth, 04 January 1912

Super Moon 221,524 miles from earth, 14 November 2016

Super Moon 221,681 miles from earth, 19 February 2019

Super Moon 221,487 miles from earth, 25 November 2034

The moon, by far is more complex than you could imagine. For more about the moon′s complexity, please take a look at the Predictable Moon gallery under the subject of Orbital Nodes

The full moon on February 9, 2020, ranks as the forth closest (and therefore the forth largest) full moon of the entire year (2020), but is it a supermoon?

Officially, there are no rules as to how close or far the moon must be to qualify as a supermoon or even a micro moon. Actually, different astronomers use different definitions. Due to this, a full moon classified as a supermoon by one astronomer may not qualify as a super full moon by another.

However, one thing we all can agree on. Supermoons (and Micro moons) are based on the lunar perigee and apogee. Each month, the moon comes closest to Earth at perigee (2020: 221,772 miles) and swings farthest away at apogee (2020: 252,707 miles).

Since the full moon on February 9, 2020, only comes within 225,234 miles of the Earth, it seemingly does not qualify as a supermoon.

This year has three Super Moons, January 20 was the first, this month is the second and largest of the three and the third will be on March 21.

The month′s Super, Snow moon will be a distance of 221,681 miles (356,761 km) from the Earth.