Don't Miss the Next Full Moon: The Worm Moon (and, by Some Definitions, a Supermoon)
Eratosthenes writes:
SciTechDaily reports that there is a moon in the sky, and it is waxing dangerously!
The Next Full Moon is the Worm, Crow, Crust, Sap, or Sugar Moon; the Pesach, Passover, or Paschal Moon; the Holi Festival Moon; Medin or Madin Poya; the Shab-e-Barat or Bara'at Night Moon; and (by some definitions) a Supermoon.
The next full Moon will be Sunday afternoon, March 28, 2021, appearing opposite the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 2:48 PM EDT. This will be on Monday morning from India's timezone eastward to the International Date Line. The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Saturday morning through Monday night into early Tuesday morning.
In the 1930s the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing American Indian Moon names for each month of the year. According to this almanac, as the full Moon in March this is the Crow, Crust, Sap, Sugar, or Worm Moon. The more northern tribes of the northeastern United States knew this as the Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter. Other northern names were the Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing by night, or the Sap (or Sugar) Moon as this is the time for tapping maple trees. The tribes more to the south called this the Worm Moon after the earthworm casts that appear as the ground thaws. It makes sense that only the southern tribes called this the Worm Moon. When glaciers covered the northern part of North America they wiped out the native earthworms. After these glaciers melted about 12,000 years ago the more northern forests grew back without earthworms. Earthworms in these areas now are mostly invasive species introduced from Europe and Asia.
Haven't we had enough of the "Super Moons"? Remember the "Super Blood Wolf Moon" a couple of months ago? Now "Super White Worm Moon"? All astronomers know the full moon is the worst for viewing, as the full reflected brightness of the sun is too much, and blows out all the detail. Much better at a quarter. And too bad about the worms and the glaciers. Iceworms?
[Ed Note - From the fine article - "The term "supermoon" was coined by the astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 and refers to either a new or full Moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth."]
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