Full “Snow Moon” is the smallest of the year

 

Our skies may be a bit cloudy for some this morning, but that isn’t stopping the full moon from shining bright!

The February full moon hit 100% illumination yesterday afternoon, but you won’t be able to tell much of a difference this morning - illumination is still at 99.5%. The moon will stay in our skies throughout the morning, setting at 8:43am.

We may be seeing a few clouds rolling through with more developing throughout the morning, but that shouldn’t interrupt your viewing too much.

The moon is bright enough to shine through thinner, higher-level clouds, so you’ll have a very high chance of getting to see it if you’re out and about this morning.

The February full moon is also called the “Snow Moon” because this is typically the time of year when we see the most snow. When it comes to viewing the Snow Moon, earlier is better to get ahead of the increasing cloud cover and to see the moon light up the night sky while the sun is still below the horizon.

This isn’t just any full moon - this month, we’re seeing a micromoon which is when the moon is further away and looks smaller in our skies. This smaller appearance is thanks to the position of the moon in its orbit around the Earth.

This month’s micromoon is the smallest of the year with the moon being the furthest away in its orbit, meaning this full moon is 14% smaller in our sky than the year’s biggest supermoon.