The final full moon of winter will light up the sky this week, and it coincides with another special opportunity for sky-watchers.

Named the worm moon by Native American tribes in the 18th century in reference to different creatures emerging from their winter hideouts to welcome spring, the March moon will reach peak illumination at 7:42 a.m. ET Tuesday, March 7, according to the [url=https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-march#:~:text=The%20full%20Worm%20Moon%20reaches,this%20Moon%20at%20its%20brightest!]Old Farmer’s Almanac[/url].

But someone looking up at the right moment could catch a stunning planetary phenomenon, too.“What is a little more interesting now, and also visible tonight and this week, are the close and prominent positioning of Venus and Jupiter in the western sky right after sunset,” said Mike Hankey, operations manager for the American Meteor Society, via email.

“The astronomical word for this is ‘conjunction.’ These planets will be setting as the moon is rising, so they are only visible for about an hour at sunset, near the western horizon.”

[img]https://media.cnn.com/api/v1/images/stellar/prod/230306110839-worm-moon-2022-file-restricted.jpg?c=16x9&q=h_270,w_480,c_fill[/img]Here’s the list of full moons remaining in 2023, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac:

• April 6: Pink moon
• May 5: Flower moon
• June 3: Strawberry moon
• July 3: Buck moon
• August 1: Sturgeon moon
• August 30: Blue moon
• September 29: Harvest moon
• October 28: Hunter’s moon
• November 27: Beaver moon
• December 26: Cold moon

Last edited by Spunky (3/07/2023 8:21 pm)