The Snow Moon, the last full moon of meteorological winter in the Northern Hemisphere, will reach peak brightness on Sunday afternoon even though it didn’t rise above the horizon across the continent until after sunset on Sunday evening. If you missed it, fear not, because the snow-themed moon will appear full for approximately three days spanning early Saturday morning through early Tuesday morning, according to NASA.
And, thanks to orbital good timing, we can saunter along the distant shoreline of the giant Ocean of Storms in the Moon’s northwest throughout February. Often it is tilted out of view or only visible after a midnight moonrise, but this month, the white highlands are visible for a whole week starting with that Snow Moon.
The February full moon is nicknamed for the heavy snow events that typically occur during the month of February. Other nicknames for this month’s moons include the Groundhog Moon, the Hungry Moon, the Bald Eagle Moon and the Raccoon Moon.
According to astronomy.com, it all starts on the evening of the 4th, when the prominent horseshoe-shaped crater Eddington lies near the day-night terminator line, due west of blazing Aristarchus. Eddington’s southern half lies buried under a sea of lava. A neat wrinkle ridge links two nearby sharp-edged craters.
Sunday evening (the 5th) gives us our first view of Einstein, west and a little south of Eddington. Slightly bigger, a respectable 125 miles across, Einstein is a battered ring with a secondary crater in its middle. But it won’t look like a typical crater this night because it lies edge-on to our line of sight. Look right on the limb for three bumps, which are a profile of the crater rim with its central peak. The outer two high spots are a bit farther apart than Eddington’s width.
With each successive night, the Moon’s western limb appears to roll slightly toward us, transforming the view from edge-on to a shallow angle, so that by the 9th, Einstein’s inner crater is noticeable, surrounded by some darker lava that flooded the outer crater’s interior. Use a filter to cut the glare, such as a cross-polarized pair that will allow you to dial in the amount of reduction. Alternatively, a deep-blue filter, sunglasses, or increasing the magnification are good ways of managing the light. The sequence nearly repeats next month, starting March 5th.
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Photo Credit: Vitalii Bashkatov / Shutterstock.com