(CNN)One of the brightest heralds of spring appears this week.
The March Full Moon, known as the Worm Moon, will culminate at 3:18 a.m. ET on Friday, March 18, according to NASA. It will appear full by Saturday morning.
This moon will appear larger to viewers due to the “moon illusion” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. This occurs when the moon is near the horizon and our eyes compare the size of the moon to trees, buildings, or other terrestrial objects. By comparing these reference points to the moon, our brains fool us into thinking the moon is bigger.
Southern Native American tribes named the Wormmoon for the droppings of earthworms — essentially feces — which NASA says surfaced at the end of winter as the ground thawed.
Another account in the Old Farmer’s Almanac states that the name refers to beetle larvae that came out of winter hiding places in the spring.
However, Native American tribes lived in forests without native earthworms because glaciers wiped out the species, according to NASA. Some of these groups instead referred to the moon as the crow moon, in reference to the birds whose croaking would signal the end of winter.
In the Hindu month of Phalguna, March’s full moon marks the beginning of the Holi festival, a two-day celebration known as the “Festival of Love”, “Festival of Colors” and “Festival of Spring” according to NASA.
There are still nine full moons in 2022, two of which qualify as super moons. Here is a list of the remaining moons for 2022 according to Farmers’ Almanac:
- April 16: Pink Moon
- May 16: Flower Moon
- June 14: Strawberry Moon
- July 13: Buck moon
- August 11: Sturgeon Moon
- September 10: Harvest Moon
- October 9: Hunter’s Moon
- November 8: Beaver Moon
- December 7: Cold moon
While these are the popular names associated with the monthly full moons, the meaning of each among Native American tribes can vary.
lunar and solar eclipses
According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, there will be two total lunar eclipses and two partial solar eclipses in 2022.
Partial eclipses occur when the moon passes in front of the sun but blocks only part of its light. Be sure to wear proper eclipse glasses to see solar eclipses safely, as the sunlight can damage the eye.
A partial solar eclipse on April 30 can be observed by people in southern South America, the southeast Pacific, and the Antarctic Peninsula. Another on October 25 will be visible to people in Greenland, Iceland, Europe, Northeast Africa, the Middle East, Western Asia, India and Western China. None of the partial eclipses will be visible from North America.
A lunar eclipse can only occur on a full moon, when the sun, earth and moon are aligned and the moon moves into the earth’s shadow. The earth casts two shadows on the moon during the solar eclipse. The penumbra is the partial outer shadow, and the umbra is the full, dark shadow.
As the full moon enters Earth’s shadow, it dims but does not disappear. Sunlight penetrating Earth’s atmosphere dramatically illuminates the moon, turning it red – which is why it’s often referred to as the “blood moon.”
Depending on the weather conditions in your area, it may be rusty, brick-colored, or blood-red.
This happens because blue light is subject to more atmospheric scattering, so red light is the most dominant color, highlighted when sunlight penetrates our atmosphere and casts it onto the moon.
A total lunar eclipse will be visible to people in Europe, Africa, South America, and North America (excluding the northwestern regions) between 9:31 p.m. ET on May 15 and 2:52 a.m. ET on May 16.
Another total lunar eclipse will be visible between 3:01am ET and 8:58am ET on November 8 for those in Asia, Australia, the Pacific, South America and North America – but for those inside, the moon will set eastern regions of North America.
meteor shower
This year began with the Quadrantid meteor shower in January, but the next meteor shower will not peak until April.
Here are the remaining 11 showers to watch out for in 2022:
• Lyrids: 21st-22nd April
• Eta Aquariids: 4th-5th cent. May
• Southern Delta Aquariids: 29th-30th. July
• Alpha Capricornids: 30.-31. July
• Perseids: 11th-12th cent. August
• Orionids: 20th-21st cent. October
• Southern Taurids: 4th-5th cent. November
• Northern Taurids: 11th-12th cent. November
• Leonids: 17th-18th cent. November
• Gemini: 13th-14th December
• Ursids: 21.-22. December
If you live in an urban area, you might want to drive somewhere that isn’t littered with city lights obscuring your view.
Find an open area with a wide view of the sky. Make sure you have a chair or blanket so you can look straight up. And give your eyes about 20 to 30 minutes — without looking at your phone or other electronics — to adjust to the darkness so the meteors are easier to spot.
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