The following two evenings will be illuminated by the second full moon of the year, but this one is a little different.
Many people have heard of supermoons, which occur when a full moon appears brighter because it is closest to Earth during its orbit. However, the Full Snow Moon in February is actually a micromoon.
This is because our moon satellite is currently 251,705 miles (405,000 km) distant, the farthest point in its orbit.
It indicates that this year’s Full Snow Moon would appear up to 14% smaller than a supermoon. Although most viewers won’t be able to notice the difference with the naked eye.
NASA reports that the spectacle attained maximum brightness at 13:29 EDT (18:29 GMT) on Sunday. But it will continue to shine bright until early Tuesday morning.
A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days, which is the length of time it takes to complete one lunar cycle. February’s full moon is known as the ‘Snow Moon’ because it frequently coincides with significant snowfall.
According to astronomers, in order to view as many surface features of the moon as possible, skywatchers must allow their eyes time to acclimatise to reduced light levels and turn off artificial lighting.
From 18:00 GMT onwards, cloud cover will obscure vistas across the majority of Scotland and parts of northern England.
The Full Snow Moon will illuminate the planet tonight
Dr. Greg Brown of the Royal Observatory Greenwich told. ‘Seeing the moon yourself shouldn’t be too difficult, so long as there are no clouds in the way.
It will be the brightest object in the night sky and fully visible with the naked eye. But, a pair of binoculars or a small telescope will allow you to view some of the surface’s tiny details.
Tonight, the Full Snow Moon will not be the only otherworldly object illuminating the night sky.
Mars will also be visible and bright during the most of the night, as will Jupiter.
Since full moon names have been used to mark the seasons for ages, they are closely associated with nature.
Due to hunting difficulties, February’s full moon was known as the Hunger Moon.
Even though the full moon for this month happened yesterday, our natural satellite will appear equally full tonight through Tuesday, when its illumination will be 99 percent.
These differences are so minute as to be unnoticeable to the naked eye. Thus stargazers will effectively get two more opportunities to observe the moon’s fully illuminated phase.
Due to its micromoon status, tonight’s Full Snow Moon will be less dazzling than last year’s.
And it won’t even come close to the years 2019 and 2020, when the Full Snow Moon was a “supermoon.”
This occurs when the full moon occurs close to perigee, the point in the moon’s orbit where it is closest to the Earth.
Depending on the time of year, a supermoon might appear up to 14 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than usual as viewed from Earth.
According to the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the full Moon will be an identifiable white ball in the sky if there are not too many clouds.
This is a good time to use a small telescope or a pair of binoculars to see the moon’s surface in detail, or to take a few fascinating photographs of the moon.
The observatory reported that a supermoon will occur twice in 2023, on August 1 and August 31.
