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    Under a Snow Moon: Full Moon of February Rises Tonight

    The full moon of February will hit its peak Tuesday night (Feb. 7) in what Algonquin Native American tribes have traditionally called the Snow Moon since heavy snowfalls typically occur in the northern regions this month.

    This month's full moon occurs at 4:54 p.m. EST (2154 GMT), although the moon can appear full to casual observers a day before and after the exact time of its full phase. Just after sunset, the bright planets Venus and Jupiter are also putting on a celestial show for skywatchers with clear weather.

    The February full moon has many names, just as every month's big moon does. In addition to its Snow Moon nickname, the lunar event is also known as the Hunger Moon, Storm Moon and Candles Moon due to its occurrence during the northern winter season, when food could be scarce and the weather foul.

    Like January's moon, February's full moon is sometimes known as the Wolf Moon, but it also has its own unique names in Hindi (Magh Poornima) and among Buddhists (Navam Poya). [Amazing Harvest Full Moon Photos]

    The full moon for each month occurs when the moon is on the opposite side of Earth from the sun, so that its face is completely illuminated by sunlight.

    "The full moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise, the only night in the month when the moon is in the sky all night long," wrote SPACE.com contributor Geoff Gaherty, an astronomer with the skywatching software developer Starry Night Education, in a February 2012 skywatching guide.

    Lunar eclipses can also occur during the full moon phase when part or the entire moon passes through the Earth's shadow. But since the moon, Earth and sun are not all exactly in the same plane of space, not every full moon creates a lunar eclipse.

    Tonight's full moon is not the only lunar sky show in February. The planets Venus and Jupiter will team up with the crescent moon later in the month on Feb. 25 and Feb. 26, when the three objects appear extremely close to each other in the evening sky.

    Venus is currently shining extra bright as a dazzling "evening star" just after sunset and will continue to do so all month long. Jupiter, meanwhile, is spending the month in the constellation Aries.

    Jupiter and Venus are currently the brightest objects in the night sky after the moon and Sirius, which is the brightest star in the sky.

    You can follow SPACE.com Managing Editor Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

     

    23 comments

    • Bill  •  3 mths ago
      Another full moon, already? Who wants to shave my back for me this time?
    • Lilly White  •  3 mths ago
      And they are calling for snow in my area too! Excited to see both the Snow Moon and the Snow Fall.
    • J.  •  Ontario, California  •  3 mths ago
      I love it when we have lightning during a snow storm. I have experienced it only a few times in Colorado. The lights are just great. Orange, blues, green, reds. almost every color you could imagine. Plus i was at the time completely sober. Thank you
    • safeinthewoods  •  3 mths ago
      ... all the crazies will be out ... bwaaahaahaa
      • Bill 3 mths ago
        In other words, just another day here at Yahoo.
    • Jack D H  •  Crystal Lake, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      I gave up on things like this. Whenever I go out to see something I wind up disapointed because all I ever see is Nancy Pelosi on her broom.
      • J. 3 mths ago
        if that happens I would poke my eyes out.
      • Jack D H 3 mths ago
        Good idea, thanks.
    • Butch  •  3 mths ago
      beautiful show last night - can't wait for tonight's!
    • S.  •  3 mths ago
      i find full moons offensive - who can i sue?
      • Butch 3 mths ago
        whom?
      • S. 3 mths ago
        sue me!
    • Pilgrim Proost  •  Fort Worth, Texas  •  3 mths ago
      One other tidbit on the snow moon;

      "The fact that you are reading about the event known as a "snow moon" indicates you've fallen victim to another phenomenon which uses the word 'snow.'"

      Snow Job: An effort to deceive, overwhelm, or persuade with insincere talk.

      The food stamp president, "Barak Hussein Obama," used the snow job tactic as a way of securing votes in the 2008 presidential elections. Voters, believing the false promises, handed him a victory. Shortly thereafter, they fell victim to all his lies as industries across the once-thriving nation began shedding jobs or shutting down altogether.

      Our highest aspirations were not immune. The shutdowns washed across the breadth of our space-exploration industry and wiped out much of what represented the last hope of mankind. The few aerospace torchbearers that were still left standing? They were massacred in place when Obama, in effect, cancelled the space program.

      As a result, there's not much to write about these days.

      Journalists who formerly wrote about exciting exploration programs and the infinite possibilities pertaining to future of our species, have now resorted to trying to feed their starving families by scouring the parched and barren landscape for any pitiful morsels that somehow remain. Desperately sifting through the ruins of the once-proud launch complexes which used bustle with intense and purposeful activity, but which now lie as broken and rusted hulks amid a vast, endless wasteland of lifeless hardscrabble and melted glass.

      Searching for a tiny morsel of a story. Anything! A fragment of a story! An inkling of activity! Any small sign of life. It need not be much. Just something that'll sustain the staff and families until the next day..

      And there it is! Small. Fragile. Barely clinging to life. A weed of a story but it might be enough! Despite the vast and utter desolation of the Obama wastelands, a cockroach of a story is twitching its legs in the final throes of death.

      "We can write about it and LIVE!"

      So today, we are informed that the moon is going to actually rise on February 7th, 2012.

      Wow. I'm blown away. It says so much. Say all you want about Algonquins and possibly exaggerated claims about the president and the economy, but it doesn't change the fact that you ARE reading that the moon is going to rise at some point tonight. And surprise, surprise! So will the sun! But that won't happen until next January. Until then? Snow.
      • snow man 3 mths ago
        Hey Pilgrim,
        Let's all pay tribute to BO tonight with a full mooning.
      • DannyJoe 3 mths ago
        Do what???,,,,Rufff,,,,Howllllll,,,,,,
    • Shanti  •  Richmond, Canada  •  3 mths ago
      The sun Sirius is esoterically known as the Central Sun since it is the Central Sun of our Milky Way Galaxy. It has a very importrant effect on our Sun and the planets, depending upon its relevant position at any one time, and the position of the 12 planets and the Sun of our system, Ors.
      • Bill 3 mths ago
        Where did you study astronomy? On a UFO?
    • QXR  •  3 mths ago
      On a Full Moon, there is a ritual that allows the individual to rise above the mundanes and dance with the winds of change. The pitfalls are the sacrifices and symbols used to alter perspectives.
    • jon  •  3 mths ago
      If this is what it takes to bring snow to Ohio ,then shine on!!!!!
    • ShopperBen  •  Beverly Hills, California  •  3 mths ago
      its amazing of some authors can write an article on such mundane subjects like the moon cycles. pretty sure we will be bored to death with the next 11 articles too.
    • CONNIE  •  Champaign, Illinois  •  3 mths ago
      Good article. Informing, written well, thank you! Keep up the good work.
    • Butch  •  3 mths ago
      too many clouds but beautiful, still.
    • cars r us  •  3 mths ago
      another full moon...damm my throat still hurts from howling from the last one!!!!!
    • Centurion of Evil  •  3 mths ago
      What snow??
    • steven h  •  3 mths ago
      Is this why all the Politicians are coming out this month, a full moon? Yep, politicians and lunatics come out on the full moon
    • raven  •  3 mths ago
      thanks for the case of coke for christmas.
    • Mike Bonneau  •  Fort Walton Beach, Florida  •  3 mths ago
      A Killing Moon.....where's my Audi?
    • Giovanni  •  Los Angeles, California  •  3 mths ago
      Wow. if you notice every time we have full moon. the crime rates goes high.
      there are alot of killings all over the world.
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