February’s ‘micro’ Full Snow Moon lights up the night sky

Science
By William

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Skywatchers across the world have captured a series of stunning images showing February’s ‘micro’ Full Snow Moon lighting up the night sky.

They include spectacular photographs of our lunar satellite above Warwick, London and Lancashire in the UK, as well as the Philippines, Italy and Bordeaux in France. 

Many people will have heard of supermoons – when a full moon appears brighter because it is closest to the Earth during its orbit – but February’s full moon, known as the Full Snow Moon, is actually what is called a ‘micromoon’.

This is because it is at its farthest point from us in its orbit and currently 251,705 miles (405,000 km) away.

It has made the second full moon of the year appear up to 14 per cent smaller than a supermoon, although most observers wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference with the unaided eye.

Great shot: Skywatchers across the world have captured a series of stunning images showing February’s ‘micro’ Full Snow Moon lighting up the night sky. Pictured is the snow moon setting behind St Mary’s Church in Warwick

The images include spectacular photographs of our lunar satellite above Warwick, London (pictured) and Lancashire in the UK, as well as the Philippines, Italy and Bordeaux in France

The images include spectacular photographs of our lunar satellite above Warwick, London (pictured) and Lancashire in the UK, as well as the Philippines, Italy and Bordeaux in France

The spectacle reached peak illumination at around 13:29 ET (18:29 GMT) on Sunday and appeared full until early this morning. 

A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days — the length of time it takes for it to go through a whole lunar cycle — and February’s is known as the ‘Snow Moon’ because it often coincides with heavy snowfall.

The Full Snow Moon wasn’t the only other-worldly body illuminating the starry skies last night — Jupiter was also bright and well-positioned for viewing for most of the evening, as was Mars.

For centuries, full moon names have been used to track the seasons and therefore are closely related to nature.

February’s was also traditionally known as the Hunger Moon because of the challenging hunting conditions at this time of year. 

Many people will have heard of supermoons – when a full moon appears brighter because it is closest to the Earth during its orbit – but February's full moon, known as the Full Snow Moon, is actually what is called a 'micromoon'. Pictured is the moon above Burnley in Lancashire

Many people will have heard of supermoons – when a full moon appears brighter because it is closest to the Earth during its orbit – but February’s full moon, known as the Full Snow Moon, is actually what is called a ‘micromoon’. Pictured is the moon above Burnley in Lancashire

A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days — the length of time it takes for it to go through a whole lunar cycle — and February's is known as the 'Snow Moon' because it often coincides with heavy snowfall. An airliner passes in front of the moon above London

A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days — the length of time it takes for it to go through a whole lunar cycle — and February’s is known as the ‘Snow Moon’ because it often coincides with heavy snowfall. An airliner passes in front of the moon above London

Capturing it lighting up the night sky: The full snow moon is pictured here rising above Pag-Asa Island in the Philippines

Capturing it lighting up the night sky: The full snow moon is pictured here rising above Pag-Asa Island in the Philippines

Although 100 per cent illumination of the moon for this month occurred on Sunday, our natural satellite appeared just as full until this morning, when it was at 99 per cent illumination

Although 100 per cent illumination of the moon for this month occurred on Sunday, our natural satellite appeared just as full until this morning, when it was at 99 per cent illumination

Although 100 per cent illumination of the moon for this month occurred on Sunday, our natural satellite appeared just as full until this morning, when it was at 99 per cent illumination.

These differences were fractional enough to be imperceptible to the naked eye, however.

This year’s Full Snow Moon certainly didn’t come close to 2019 and 2020, when it was a ‘supermoon’.

This occurs when the full moon nearly coincides with perigee — the point in the orbit of the moon at which it is nearest to the Earth. 

This means a supermoon can appear as much as 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than normal when viewed from Earth, depending on the time of year.

The Royal Observatory, Greenwich said a supermoon will arrive twice in 2023 — on August 1 and again on August 31. 

This year's Full Snow Moon certainly didn't come close to 2019 and 2020, when it was a 'supermoon'

This year’s Full Snow Moon certainly didn’t come close to 2019 and 2020, when it was a ‘supermoon’

The second full moon of the year appeared up to 14 per cent smaller than a supermoon, although most observers wouldn't have been able to tell the difference with the unaided eye. Pictured is the moon over the twin peaks of Les Jumelles in the Alps

The second full moon of the year appeared up to 14 per cent smaller than a supermoon, although most observers wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference with the unaided eye. Pictured is the moon over the twin peaks of Les Jumelles in the Alps

The spectacle reached peak illumination at around 13:29 ET (18:29 GMT) on Sunday and has appeared full until early this morning

The spectacle reached peak illumination at around 13:29 ET (18:29 GMT) on Sunday and has appeared full until early this morning

A supermoon can appear as much as 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than normal when viewed from Earth, depending on the time of year

A supermoon can appear as much as 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than normal when viewed from Earth, depending on the time of year

A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days — the length of time it takes for it to go through a whole lunar cycle — and February's is known as the 'Snow Moon' because it often coincides with heavy snowfall

A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days — the length of time it takes for it to go through a whole lunar cycle — and February’s is known as the ‘Snow Moon’ because it often coincides with heavy snowfall

Enormous: This year's Full Snow Moon wasn't as bright as the ones in 2019 (pictured in New York) and 2020, because these were supermoons

Enormous: This year’s Full Snow Moon wasn’t as bright as the ones in 2019 (pictured in New York) and 2020, because these were supermoons

FULL MOON, SUPERMOON, SNOW MOON: WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE? 

A FULL MOON  is the phase of the moon in which its whole disc is illuminated.

During the 29.5-day lunar cycle, we observe a new moon (with 0 per cent illumination), a waxing moon (when the amount of illumination on the moon is increasing), a full moon (100 per cent illumination) and then a waning moon (when its visible surface area is getting smaller).

Because our modern calendar isn’t quite in line with the Moon’s phases, sometimes we get more than one full Moon in a month. This is commonly known as a blue moon. 

Meanwhile, a SUPERMOON  is when the full moon nearly coincides with perigee – the point in the orbit of the moon at which it is nearest to the Earth.

This means a supermoon can appear as much as 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than normal, when viewed from Earth, depending on the time of year. 

There are about three or four supermoons per year, most astronomy websites claim, and they happen at different times each year. 

Lastly, SNOW MOON simply refers to the time of the year the full moon is appearing.

Different months of the year have different nicknames – so January is Wolf Moon, February is Snow Moon, March is Worm Moon and April is Pink Moon.  

Full moon names were historically used to track the seasons and therefore are closely related to nature. 

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