Those who enjoy keeping a keen eye on the sky will be treated Tuesday to the second in a trifecta of full moons for early 2019.
In January, the United States witnessed a spectacular full moon, which many labeled as a “super blood wolf moon” or “super blood eclipse moon” because it showed up as part of a total lunar eclipse and presented itself in a rust-red color.
This week’s full supermoon won’t offer watchers the red coloring, but it is expected to be the closest the moon will come to the earth this year — estimated to pass by at slightly more than 221,000 miles away.
There is also expected to be a full moon on March 20, giving the Unites States three straight months of supermoons.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the “super snow moon“ was to be at its fullest phase on Tuesday morning at about 10:53 a.m. But astronomers say the full moon will remain Tuesday visible Tuesday evening.
Over the centuries, Native Americans called February’s full moon the “hunger moon” because it was the time of year when hunting conditions were at the worst, resulting in less food available. The February full moon has also been referred to as the “storm moon” and “bone moon.”
“The bone moon meant that there was so little food that people gnawed on bones and ate bone marrow soup,” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The rival publication, the Farmers’ Almanac, says early American colonists also referred to the February full moon as the “trapper’s moon,” because “the optimal time for trapping beaver, fox, and mink, was the dead of winter, when these animals’ coats were at their fullest.”
