Supermoon or not, 2020’s second full moon graces the night sky

The second full moon of 2020 appeared in the night sky on Sunday, February 9, but there is some debate as to whether it's a "supermoon" or not.

GMA News' Raffy Tima took some photos of the snow moon—one of the terms for a full moon occurring in February.

"The first supermoon of 2020 (purists might disagree)," he said.

The first supermoon of 2020. (Purists might disagree ????) But it’s still beautiful. pic.twitter.com/vuJQqnBh0G

— Raffy Tima (@raffytima) February 9, 2020

A supermoon is a full moon that appears brighter and larger than usual because it happens when the moon is at its closest point to Earth during its orbit.

This closest point of the moon's orbit is known as the perigee, and is roughly 363,300 kilometers from Earth.

That there is a debate about whether this particular full moon is a supermoon or not is due to the fact that there is no precise, official definition for a supermoon—because the term comes from astrology, a pseudoscience.

Astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term in 1979 and described a supermoon as "a new or full moon which occurs with the moon at or near (within 90 percent of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit," which some experts deem an imprecise definition. 

According to astronomy website EarthSky.org, Nolle does not include Sunday's full moon on his list of supermoons for the 21st century. But a scientific expert, retired US astrophysicist Fred Espenak, has it on his own list of supermoons.

According to NASA, the moon will continue to appear full through Monday. — BM, GMA News