Saturday’s ‘snow moon’ will be a ‘micromoon’
You might notice that the full moon on Saturday looks a bit smaller than usual. While the moon is indeed shrinking, it will look smaller only because it’s slightly farther away.
In fact, astronomers say that Saturday’s full “snow moon” will appear the smallest of any full moon of the year. Thus, it’s known colloquially as a “micromoon” or “minimoon.” That occurs when a full moon coincides with apogee, the point in the moon’s orbit that’s farthest away from Earth, according to TimeandDate.com.
“This is the counterpart to the supermoon, which has evolved into a viral sensation in recent years,” said AccuWeather meteorologist Brian Lada. A micromoon can appear 14% smaller and 30% dimmer than a supermoon, he said.
The moon becomes officially full for folks on the U.S. East Coast on at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory.
According to the Old Farmers’ Almanac, full moon names date back to Native Americans in the northern and eastern U.S.
“The tribes kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon,” the almanac reports. “Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred.”
Calling February’s full moon the “snow moon” is usually right on target: On average, February is typically the snowiest month in the U.S., according to past climate data from the National Weather Service.
But for much of the country, that’s not the case this year: Only 21% of the U.S. was snowcovered as of Wednesday, NOAA reports. That’s the lowest for this date in the past seven years.
The Farmer’s Almanac also says some tribes referred to February’s moon as the “hunger moon” because harsh weather conditions often made hunting difficult.
This weekend’s full moon will be the final one of winter, Lada said.
The next one will not occur until after the March equinox, March 19, which signals the arrival of astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere.
And as for the moon’s names, the “worm moon” will grace the sky in March.