![]() ![]() And thanks to the Moon’s orbit around Earth, the angle of sunlight hitting the lunar surface and being reflected back to our planet evolves, giving birth to varied lunar phases. This unique alignment ensures the entire side of the Moon that faces us gleams under sunlight. The phenomenon of a Full Moon arises when our planet, Earth, is precisely sandwiched between the Sun and the Moon. Moon Phase: Waning gibbous (99%) How and why do Full Moons occur? Tycho is the prominent crater in the south, while Stevinus lies close to the southeastern limb and Copernicus dominates the eastern portion of Oceanus Procellarum in the lunar west. Several large craters with stunningly long rays (light streaks of excavated material) are visible on the Full Moon as well. They are younger than the lighter, more rugged regions of the lunar south and southeast. These never held water, though, and instead are ancient lava flows that either spread over the landscape or welled up from below. The dark patches are called maria, which is Latin for seas. But although it’s not the best time to study the terrain up close, Full Moon offers a great chance to view the entire lunar nearside to get an idea of the landscape as a whole. Seeing intricate detail on our satellite is hard during the Full phase because the Sun is directly over the lunar landscape, meaning shadows are at their shortest. This change, however, is an optical illusion - albeit one that scientists can’t yet fully explain. Full Moons in particular often look huge as they sit near the horizon, then appear to shrink once higher in the sky. That’s because the Full Moon always rises and sets directly opposite the Sun. The January Full Moon is also called the Wolf Moon, and you can see it rising in the east just as the Sun is setting in the west. local time from the same location.įull Moon occurs at 12:54 P.M. The Moon’s illumination is given at 12 P.M. *Times for sunrise, sunset, moonrise, and moonset are given in local time from 40° N 90° W. The following is adapted from Alison Klesman’s The Sky This Week article, which you can find here. The moonrise and moonset schedule this week These images below show the day-by-day phases of the moon this month. Here’s the complete list of Full Moons in 2024 along with their traditional names. We’ll update this article multiple times each week with the latest moonrise, moonset, Full Moon schedule, and what you can see in the sky each week. This monthly event has been the inspiration behind myths, tales, traditions, and even farming. Credit: Mark Chinnick (Flickr)įor millennia, Full Moons have wielded a magnetic charm. The "Super Moon" Full Moon rises over southern Spain in 2016. ![]()
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