Monday, February 09, 2009

FEBRUARY FULL MOON & VELVETY VIOLET 'FLOWER OF THE MONTH'

"The moon looks upon many night flowers;
the night flowers see but one moon."
(Songs of the Night Watches)


~ February Full Moon & Violet (flower of the month)

Namebini-giizis - 'Sucker Moon'

(Ojibwe)

^^^^^^^^

February Moon

The Full Moon of February occurs on the 9th at 9:49 AM EST. It is known as the "Wolf, Snow, or Hunger Moon." It was the "Trapper's Moon" to Colonial Americans and the "Storm Moon " for medieval English. Chinese refer to it as the "Budding Moon", and for the Celts it was the "Moon of Ice". Anishnaabe (Chippewa and Ojibwe) know it as "Namebini-giizis" (Sucker Moon).

___________________________

The February full moon falls at 14:49 Universal Time today.
That’s 8:49 a.m. in the central U.S. Every full moon takes place at the same instant for everyone all around the world – but your clock time for the full moon varies by your time zone.


To look full to us, the moon has to be opposite the sun. That moment when it’s most opposite the sun for the month marks the instant of full moon – and that instant has to come at different hours on the clock, all around the globe.


For the west coast of the US, for example, the moon reaches the crest of its full phase around sunrise this morning. At this same full moon instant, it’s high noon today in eastern Brazil, and midnight in Japan and Australia. Still, no matter where you live, watch for the full-looking moon dominant from dusk till dawn.

And remember that – at every instant, like at the instant of today’s full moon – the globe of Earth is always half-illuminated by sunlight and half-engulfed in shadow. Earth has a day side and a night side. At any moment, there’s always a sunrise and sunset someplace on Earth. Around now, a full moon will shine in the east at sundown – for all parts of Earth.
Astronomers use Universal Time use Universal Time as their standard. It corresponds to standard clock time at the prime meridian of 0 degrees longitude, which runs through Greenwich, England.


The full moon for February 9, 2009 comes 14:49 Universal Time (9:49 Eastern Time; 8:49 Central Time; 7:49 Mountain Time; 6:49 Pacific Time)





14 comments:

RURAL said...

A very illuminating post. LOL. Sorry could not help myself.

Beautiful shot of the moon and the violet. And I did learn something about the moon. Hopefully we won't be having another cloudy night, and I can go out and see it.

Jen

Anonymous said...

The time of the full moon is always a special, almost magical time for me. Love your violet-moon photo!

Roses and Lilacs said...

We are under heavy clouds here so we won't be enjoying the full moon. I keep meaning to try for some photos of the full moon.
Marnie

marmee said...

really cool info on the moon and earth. my dh and i got to stand on the time line several years ago in greenwich. it was a cute little town. we were there on a sunday i think and there were all kinds of street markets going on.

Rose said...

I noticed how full the moon was last night, but I will have to check it out again tonight. Very interesting info about the moon, Joey, especially thinking a little more philosophically about the Earth having both a dark side and a bright side at the same time.

Jane O' said...

THank you for the reminder. I love looking at the moon but often miss those "special" days that I plant to view.

joey said...

Thanks Jen ~ I do love MY moon! Do hope the clouds part so you can enjoy it also! Rushed this AM but heading back over to comment on your snake ... YikeS!

I agree, Nancy ~ the full moon is indeed magical!

How fortunate, Marmee ... must have felt amazing! I'd love to visit one day.

There is a reason why the moon holds us all in awe, Rose. Can you imagine how lonely the evening sky would be without it!

Hope you get a glimpse this evening, Jane Marie. It's cloudy today on this side of the state but the last 2 evenings were super clear & spectacular!

joey said...

Keep your camers near, Marnie! Tonight just might be the night to catch some good moon shots (actually easier to shoot the night before and the evening following the full moon ... so if not tonight, perhaps tomorrow)!

Jan said...

This is interesting info, Joey. Just yesterday my son and I were in the car when we noticed the moon directly on our left, and the sun directly on our right. I wondered about that...and now, you've explained it. What cool stuff!!

beckie said...

Joey, the moon the last few nights has been so bright and I have loved looking at it. Tonight, however we have clouds so can't see t`he true full moon. :{ Your picture is lovely and I enjoyed all the information. Thanks!

Unknown said...

It's well named the "Cold Moon", this one, because wow, it's still wicked cold here. But it was beautiful watching it last night anyway, cold or no cold.

joey said...

Hi Jan ~ you must have been in awe! The full moon facing us, completely lit by the sun, only happens when the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth ~ a phenomena on an evening blessed to see both the sun set and then the moon rise over the horizon on the opposite side of the earth.

We had cloud cover also last evening, Beckie, but like you the previous nights were spectacular!

If you're lucky our heat wave will come your way, jodi ~ expecting a shocking record breaking temp of 58!

Marysol said...

Ooh, a lovely picture of a lovely flower; my favorite flower, in fact.

You're the bestest!

joey said...

I would imagine it might be so, dear Marysol :) Do you also make candied violets?