In contemporary Israel, the day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day, and trees are planted in celebration. Tu BiShvat is also called "Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot" (literally "New Year of the Trees"). Tu BiShvat begins at sunset on January 30 and ends at nightfall on January 31). The 15th day of Shevat, corresponding with the Full Moon, is the holiday Tu BiShvat. This full Moon is the middle of the twelfth month of the Chinese calendar and Shevat in the Hebrew calendar. In lunisolar calendars the months change with the new Moon and full Moons fall in the middle of the lunar months. Bad weather and heavy snows made hunting difficult, so this Moon was also called the Hunger Moon. It was known as the Snow Moon because of the heavy snows that fall in this season (NOAA long-term monthly averages for the Washington, DC area show January and February nearly tied as the snowiest months of the year). For this perigee the Moon will appear 13% wider in diameter than it will appear when at apogee later in February, making the light of the full Moon 27% brighter than it would be if the full Moon were at apogee.Īs the midwinter Moon or the second full Moon of Winter, the Native American tribes of what is now the northern and eastern United States called this the Snow Moon or the Hunger Moon. The newer definition of a "Blue Moon" as the second full Moon in a calendar month dates from 1946.īecause this full Moon occurs about 27 hours after perigee (the Moon's closest approach to the Earth in its orbit) this full Moon qualifies as a Supermoon. Some writers speculate that "blue" came from "belewe," the phrase meant "Betrayer Moon," and that the name referred to how an extra Moon in a season confused or "betrayed" the dates for Lent and Easter. The earliest known reference to a Blue Moon in the English language is the phrase ". Originally, the term "Blue Moon" referred to the third full Moon in a season that has four full Moons. The eclipsed Moon is sometimes called the Blood Moon because of its reddish color.īecause this full Moon is the second full Moon in the month of January, this will be a Blue Moon (under one of the definitions of a Blue Moon). This reddish glow is caused by all the sunrises and sunsets on Earth shining on the Moon at the same time. From the western half of the United States, if the sky is clear, you should be able to see that the Moon in full shadow will appear reddish in color, as the light of the Sun is bent towards the Moon by the atmosphere of the Earth. If you live further west, your view of the eclipse will be better. It is rare that we get the chance to see for ourselves how we fit in the solar system. Still, if the conditions are right and you have a clear view of the horizon, you should be able to see the shadow of the Earth stretching out through the atmosphere towards the partially shadowed Moon in the west-northwest, and opposite the Moon, see the Sun rise in the east-southeast as the Moon sets. Before moonset, if you have a clear view of the Moon near the west-northwest horizon, you should see that the upper left quarter of the Moon will be in shadow, but the sky will probably be too bright to see the reddish glow of the shadowed part. With the Moon and Sun opposite each other, the Moon will set at the same time the Sun rises (at 7:15 AM EST). For the Washington, DC area, civil twilight (the time when the sky is bright enough that most days you no longer need lights) starts at 6:47 AM, just as the partial eclipse begins, when the Moon will be only about 4 degrees above the horizon in the west-northwest. Although the Moon will begin to dim when it enters the partial shadow of the Earth, the eclipse will not become noticeable until the Moon starts entering the full shadow of the Earth at 6:48 AM EST. In fact, the Moon will be so close to opposite that the Moon will pass through the shadow of the Earth, causing a total eclipse of the Moon. The Moon will appear full for about three days around the time of the full Moon, from Monday night through Thursday morning, possibly even into the early part of Thursday evening. The next full Moon will be on Wednesday morning, January 31, 2018, appearing "opposite" the Sun (in Earth-based longitude) at 8:27 AM EST.
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