Three fun facts about tonight's Full Snow Moon
February's Full Moon shines tonight!
Eyes to the sky! If you have at least reasonably clear skies tonight, take a few moments to go out and see the Full Snow Moon.
The Moon will be up all night tonight, from sunset to sunrise. Check your local forecast on our the website or on our app to see if your sky conditions are right for viewing the night sky.
Read more: Why is the Supermoon so compelling to us?
WHAT IS THE SNOW MOON?
According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, each Full Moon of the year goes by several names. The February Full Moon is most commonly called the Snow Moon. Other names include Bear Moon, Eagle Moon, Raccoon Moon, Groundhog Moon, and Hunger Moon.
As for why February's Moon is called the Snow Moon, the Almanac says: "February is typically a time of heavy snowfall."
This graphic collects all the relevant data about each Full Moon of 2021, including their popular names, whether they are a 'super' or 'micro' Moon, a perigee or apogee Full Moon, and whether they are remarkable in some other way (Blue Moon or Harvest Moon). Credit: NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio/Scott Sutherland
Most of these Full Moon names are simplifications or loose translations of names and phrases from First Nations peoples. According to Western Washington University's Spanel Planetarium, many First Nations tribes had names for the February Full Moon. Some named them after animals, such as the goose (the Haida and the Omaha), the rabbit (the Potawatomi), the crow (the Shawnee), the coyote (the Shoshone), or the black bear (the Tlingit). There are references to cold (the Lakota and Wishram), ice or frost (the Algonquin and Arapaho), and sleet (the Comanche). The Kalapuya of the Pacific Northwest referred to it as "atchiulartadsh" — which translates to "out of food" — and could be a possible reference to 'Hunger Moon'.
Does it live up to the name Snow Moon, though?
There is certainly an abundance of snow on the ground across Canada right now. Also, plenty of that snow fell during storms that swept across parts of the country during the month of February.
According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, however, at least over the past 30 years, January has been the month of the year when most Canadians see the highest snowfall amounts.
"February may not be the month where the most snow falls in a year, but because it comes at the end of the season, and at a time when temperatures for most places average below zero, you probably see more snow on the ground since you've had your best chance to build up snowpack," says Weather Network meteorologist Michael Carter.
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MOSTLY ALONE
For nearly all of 2020, the Moon had plenty of planetary company in the night sky. Jupiter and Saturn were up every night as they approached their December "Great Conjunction", and Mars never seemed to be too far away, either.
Now, though, the Moon is mostly on its own in the sky.
The view of the southern night sky at around 8:30 p.m. local time on the night of February 26, 20201. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland
While the Full Moon is rising in the east tonight, the planet Mars is the only other local celestial body in the sky at the time, but it is far off to the southwest. When Mars sets around midnight, the Moon will then be all on its own until the first light of dawn begins to appear in the east.
Looking closely to the east at that time, there's a chance to catch the planets Jupiter, Mercury and Saturn, very close to the horizon.
The eastern pre-dawn sky, on February 27, 2021. Credit: Stellarium/Scott Sutherland
THE MAGNIFICENT MOON ILLUSION
Seeing the Full Moon at any time of night is a spectacular sight. However, go out just after moonrise or just before moonset for what is usually an exceptional treat. It's not something the Moon itself is doing, though. It's due to a little trick of our mind known as The Moon Illusion.
There are times when the Moon actually does look bigger to us, such as during a supermoon, when the Moon is physically thousands of kilometres closer to Earth than usual. There are other times, however, when we just think it looks larger.
As our eyes take in the world around us, our brain knows from experience that objects close to us tend to appear larger and in focus. In contrast, distant objects tend to be tiny and blurry. From this, it also knows that for a distant object to appear in focus, it must be very large.
This close-up of the Harvest Moon was snapped in Calgary, AB, on September 13, 2019. Credit: Siv Heang
So, when we see a bright Full Moon hanging in the sky above the horizon — crisp and clear and in focus — while at the same time, all of the objects on the ground become smaller and blurrier the closer they are to the horizon, the combination causes our brain some confusion. To compensate for this, our brain interprets the Full Moon as being much bigger than it truly is. To be clear, the Moon is certainly much larger than any of the objects on the horizon (it's 3,474 km across), but this 'illusion' makes the Moon look huge!
Look up into the sky closer to the middle of the night, and the Moon will be high above our heads. Usually, it will be the only thing we see, other than the stars and maybe a few planets. At that time, the brain is focused only on the Moon, and without the other objects in the field of view to complicate matters, it is free to just 'see' its actual size.
This zoomed-in image of the Full Snow Moon was captured from Salisbury, NB, on February 9, 2020, and uploaded into the Weather Network's UGC gallery. Credit: Darlene MacLeod/Smith
We have a few tricks of our own that can cancel out the Moon illusion, though.
For the first one, we don't need technology. Just go outside after sunset and find the Moon near the horizon. Stretch your arm out towards it, and cover the Moon over with your thumb or even your pinky finger. Note how big the Moon looks compared to the digit in question, and keep that in mind. Maybe even take a picture of it, if you want. Later in the night, check out the Moon again when it is high in the sky. It may appear smaller than when you saw it earlier, but repeat the step to cover it over with your thumb or finger. Compare it with what you saw before, and you'll find that the Moon is actually precisely the same size at both times.
There is a way technology can help us, though. When the Moon is low on the horizon, take out your cellphone, turn your camera on, and point it at the Moon. Note: it is possible for the Moon illusion to still work on us when looking at a picture or video. This is because the brain will make the same judgments of distance, blurriness, and size as it did when looking at a 'live' scene. Still, directly comparing what we see in the sky at that time to what is shown on our small cellphone screen can help put things into better perspective. Plus, you can also take a few pictures to upload into the Weather Network UGC Gallery while you're at it!
