A number of members of our family are convinced that a full Moon affects people’s behavior. I have to admit that over the years, I’ve witnessed some strange behaviors during full Moons — probably too many to be coincidental, so maybe there’s something to it….
Anyhow, this month’s full Moon is special in a few ways — it reaches its peak illumination early tomorrow morning at 12:15 a.m., May 16. So tonight, weather permitting, you should get a really good view.
This will be the first supermoon of the year — there will be three more in 2022. A supermoon is defined as any full Moon that occurs when the Moon is at least 90% of perigee (the point in the Moon’s orbit that is closest to Earth.)
And — May’s full Moon coincides with a total lunar eclipse. A lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth comes directly between the Moon and the Sun, which results in the Earth casting its shadow on the Moon. During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is fully obscured by Earth’s shadow, giving the Moon a reddish hue. This phenomenon is where the term “blood moon” comes from.
Depending on the weather, we should be able to see the eclipse here in Shepherdstown. The maximum, or peak, eclipse should occur at 12:11 a.m.
Full Moons are often given names and these names come from (usually) Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Traditionally, each full Moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred, not just to the full Moon..
This month’s name is the Flower Moon. The name has been attributed to Algonquin peoples and the name isn’t particularly surprising given that flowers spring forth in abundance this month….
The name “moon” is derived from the Latin word luna and it’s the Earth’s only permanent natural satellite, and it is in synchronous rotation with the Earth — that’s the reason we can only see one side of the Moon. Even though the Moon appears white, it’s just reflecting the light from the sun…. its surface is actually dark.
So the Moon is really pretty cool — on nice rights, it’s always fascinating to watch the Moon — it’s always gong through various phases — just like we all do….
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