Full snow moon rises this week; it’s the largest supermoon of the year

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Star gazers are gearing up for the largest supermoon of the year.

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The snow moon or hunger moon will rise in the night sky Monday and will enter what is known as perigree, when the moon is closest to the Earth, which actually happens Tuesday morning, according to NASA.

The moon will appear much brighter and larger Tuesday night in a phenomenon known as a supermoon.

While January is traditionally the coldest month of the year, February usually sees the most snowfall, hence the name snow moon. Since it was also hard to hunt during February, Native American tribes and early American colonists also referred to it as the hunger moon.

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