Earthsky Tonight – Feb 28, 2010: Full moon comes February 28
Posted By Gary Wamsley On February 27, 2010 @ 10:36 pm In Earth & Sky | Comments Disabled
Courtesy of EarthSky
A Clear Voice for Science
www.EarthSky.org [1]
[2]- Full moon over snow
The February full moon [3] falls at 16:38 Universal Time [4] today.
That is 10:38 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 Hawaiian Islands, for example, the moon reaches the crest of its full phase around sunrise [5] this morning. At this same full moon instant, it’s high noon today in central South America, sunset in the Mediterranean and midnight in China. Still, no matter where you live, watch for the full-looking moon to shine from dusk till dawn.
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 dayside and a night side. At any moment, there is always a sunrise and sunset somewhere on Earth. Around now, a full moon will shine in the east at sundown – for all parts of Earth.
Astronomers use Universal Time use 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 28, 2010 comes 16:38 Universal Time (11:38 Eastern Time; 10:38 Central Time; 9:38 Mountain Time; 8:38 Pacific Time)
Photo credit: alicepopkorn [6]
More from EarthSky:
Full moon names [7]
Moon facts at your fingertips [8]
Written by Bruce McClure
Other Links:
National Geographic [10]
Space Com [11]
Amazing Space [12]
The York County Astronomical Society [13]
Scope City [14]
Article printed from Recorder Online: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com
URL to article: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/2010/02/27/earthsky-tonight-feb-28-2010-full-moon-comes-february-28/
URLs in this post:
[1] www.EarthSky.org: http://www.EarthSky.org
[2] Image: http://www.berthoudrecorder.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/10feb28_430.jpg
[3] full moon: http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/moon-phases/full-moon
[4] Universal Time: http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/astronomy-essentials/universal-time
[5] sunrise: http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/astronomy-essentials/sunrisesunset-moonrisemoonset-almanacs
[6] alicepopkorn: http://www.flickr.com/photos/alicepopkorn/3059251051/
[7] Full moon names: http://www.earthsky.org/www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/astronomy-essentilas/full-moon-names
[8] Moon facts at your fingertips: http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/astronomy-essentials/moon-facts-at-your-fingertips
[9] Sky and Telescope: http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/ataglance/
[10] National Geographic: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
[11] Space Com: http://www.space.com/nightsky/
[12] Amazing Space: http://amazing-space.stsci.edu/tonights_sky/
[13] The York County Astronomical Society: http://www.ycas.org/tonights_sky.htm
[14] Scope City: http://www.scopecity.net/
Click here to print.