The planet Mars will appear above and to the left of Venus, about 33 degrees above the horizon. With a telescope or binoculars Venus will appear as a crescent, about 23 percent full. For the Washington, DC area Venus will appear in the west-southwest at about 30 degrees above the horizon.
#Nasa bbc news today 2017 full
On the evening of the February full Moon, as evening twilight ends, the planet Venus as the Evening Star appears as the third brightest object in the sky, with only the Sun and Moon brighter. The day of the March full Moon is the day we "Spring Forward" for Daylight Savings Time, so morning twilight will begin at 6:26 AM, sunrise will be at 7:24 AM, the Sun will reach a maximum altitude of 48.1 degrees at 1:18 PM, sunset will be at 7:12 PM, and evening twilight will end at 8:10 PM EDT. On the day of the February full Moon, morning twilight will begin at 6:06 AM, sunrise will be at 7:05 AM, the Sun will reach a maximum altitude of 37.0 degrees at 12:23 PM, sunset will be at 5:40 PM, and evening twilight will end at 6:39 PM EST. We are now in Spring by this old calendar, but have 6 more weeks of Winter under our current calendar. The old Celtic calendar used in much of pre-Christian Europe considered winter to be the the quarter of the year with the shortest periods of daylight and the longest periods of night, so that Winter started around Halloween and ended around Groundhog Day (February 2nd). In mid-winter the daily periods of sunlight continue to lengthen.
This full Moon is near the middle of Jumada al-awwal, the fifth month of the calendar.Īs usual, the wearing of suitably celebratory celestial attire is encouraged in honor of the full Moon.Īs for other celestial events between now and the full Moon after next: In the Islamic calendar the months start with the first sighting of the waxing crescent Moon a few days after the New Moon. In contemporary Israel, the day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and trees are planted in celebration. Tu BiShvat is also called "Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot" (literally "New Year of the Trees"). Tu BiShvat begins at sunset on February 10 and ends at nightfall on February 11). The 15th day of Shevat, corresponding with the Full Moon, is the holiday Tu BiShvat. This full Moon is the middle of the first month of the Chinese calendar and Shevat in the Hebrew calendar.
In lunisolar calendars the months change with the new Moon and full Moons fall in the middle of the lunar months.
Bad weather and heavy snows made hunting difficult, so this Moon was also called the Hunger Moon. It was known as the Snow Moon because of the heavy snows that fall in this season (NOAA long-term monthly averages for the Washington, DC area show January and February nearly tied as the snowiest months of the year). The bright star below and to the left of the Moon will be Regulus.Īs the midwinter Moon or the second full Moon of Winter, the Native American tribes of what is now the northern and eastern United States called this the Snow Moon or the Hunger Moon. On Friday evening the full Moon will be dimmed slightly by the partial shadow of the Earth, although it will be hard to notice the difference. The Moon will appear full for about three days around the eclipse, from Thursday evening through Sunday morning.
The next full Moon will be on Friday evening, February 10, 2017, appearing "opposite" the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 7:33 PM EST.