The Full Moon, the Snow Moon, the Hunger Moon or the Moon of Ice will be visible on the 22nd of February.
(Mirror Daily, United States) – If you’re a night owl or just a hopeless romantic who wanders the streets at night, you should lift your eyes towards the sky because there are plenty of things to be seen. The planets’ alignment and the Snow Moon are just a few of the reasons why you should watch the sky this February.
The last planetary alignment happened in 2004, and the next one is pretty far away, so it is time to give up on that beauty sleep for at least a night and head out early to the nearest observatory to catch a glimpse of the phenomenon before the gods in our sky drift apart and return to their usual business.
If you don’t want to leave the comfort of home, a simple pair of binoculars or a standard telescope will do the trick just fine. You can even see the planets shining brightly in the sky with the naked eye, but a pair of binoculars or a telescope will offer a far better view.
Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Venus and Mercury will be visible throughout the entire month. But on the 13th of February, meaning this Saturday, Mercury and Venus will come very close together as they will form a quasi-conjunction. Ten days later, Jupiter will be bright and silvery and very close to the Moon that will be nearly full.
Towards the end of the month, Mars will be rising into the night’s sky shortly after the first-midnight chime. The Red Planet will be visible as a bright red star on the sky, demonstrating why ancient religions associated it with the god of war.
The Full Moon, or the Hunger Moon, or even the Snow Moon, will also be visible this month. Starting from the 22nd when it will remain in the night sky for the entire month and after when it will be visible during the day.
The Hunger Moon only takes place when the natural satellite is placed on the opposite side of our planet as the sun. This will allow the moon to be fully illuminated thus presenting itself in its full splendor.
The Full Moon got its nicknames because in the past the full moon at the end of February marked the heaviest snowfalls of the season. Because of the large amounts of snow, people were not able to hunt, so it became the Hunger Moon.
But it doesn’t really matter what you call it, what matters is the fact that there are very interesting things happening up in the sky this month and that is why you should watch the sky this February.
Image source: www.wikimedia.org