January is a long month but the full February moon is just a few days away. So, we’re not waiting until the January calendar page is flipped.
You will likely see the full moon this weekend even though it is at its peak at 5:09 p.m. EST Feb. 1, 2026.
Called the “Snow Moon” which this year appropriately mirrors what is on the ground here in the Midwest and neighboring states, the full moon is also known as the “Bear Moon” by some North American tribes.
You should be able to see it rise in the East because our weather is not just cold but also clear. If interested in reference to star formations look for the constellation Cancer.
It is hard to predict if February 2026 will be the snowiest month this year because some sites say that January often has more snow. But keep the shovels handy.
Oldsters might recall the words “by the light of the silvery moon.” That light is shining bright now.
November’s Full Moon is most illuminated at 8:19 a.m. EST on November 5, 2025 but it already appears full tonight, Nov. 4, so don’t worry you don’t see it early in the morning. Just look up tonight to see what we call the Hunter’s Moon or the Beaver’s Moon.
Whatever name you like it is a Supermoon and is brightest and fullest on Nov. 5, 2025. It appears larger than most other full moons because it will be closer to Earth.
But look again. It will still look full on Nov. 6.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac a Supermoon is a New or Full Moon that occurs when the Moon is near perigee (the point in the Moon’s orbit where it is closest to Earth). Thus there can be more than one Supermoon in a year.
“Supermoon” was the name given by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 for Moons within 90% of perigee.
The almanac goes on to say “According to this definition, in 2025, the Full Moons of October, November, and December all qualify as Supermoons—reaching 90% of perigee, the Moon’s closest approach to Earth.
Next year, 2026, will contain three Full Supermoons – January 3, 2026; November 24, 2026; and December 23, 2026.
First Supermoon this year is early October Jacobs photo)
Did the full moon wake you last night as it shone through the window covering? It did me.
The October 2025 full moon actually is 11:47 p.m. ET, Oct 6, but it will look large and full this weekend thru Oct.8 because it is a Supermoon.
It appears larger and brighter because it is closer to Earth than this year’s previous full moons. It is the first of three Supermoons in 2025.
It is also called the Harvest Moon which sometimes appears in September depending on when the autumnal equinox falls.
If you are driving past a field that is no longer full of corn you likely understand why the October full moon this year is called the Harvest Moon.
But sometimes we think of the Harvest Moon as falling in September. That “date” depends on the September (autumnal equinox) which this year was Sept. 22. The full moon closest to the autumnal equinox is called the Harvest Moon. This year we called the September full moon the Corn Moon.
BTW the Anishinaabe tribe calls the October Moon the Falling Leaves Moon.
Maybe you noticed evening started to come earlier after Sept. 22. Our daylight is shortening and our yard is covered with leaves.
You have heard the phrase”Blue Moon” referring to a rare occasion. But what about a “Black Moon?”
Blue Moon is usually applied to the second full moon in a month but also the second new moon in a month. However, the second new moon in a season can also be termed a Black Moon.
What about the third new moon?
When we have a new moon this weekend – Friday/Saturday, it can be called a Black Moon. It is the third new moon in the astronomical season between the June solstice and the September equinox.
Astronomical seasons are based on the solstices and equinoxes. But meteorological seasons refer to the temperature cycles of fall, winter, spring and summer.
Last Spring full moon or first Summer full moon (J Jacobs
The June 2025 Full Moon already is full even though it is considered at its fullest or most illuminated at 3:44 a.m. Eastern Time on June 11.
The Moon appears full before and after its peak illumination and it will appear all night because Moonrise and Moonset happen at about sunset and sunrise.
Don’t expect it to be tinted pink even though it’s nickname is the Strawberry Moon. As with other full moon names it reflects what is happening in the season and wild strawberries ripen now.
Some Native American names are Berries Ripen Moon, Green Corn Moon, and Hot Moon but Celtic and Old English names include Flower Moon, Planting Moon, Horse Moon and Dyan Moon. Anglo-Saxons called it the Mead Moon when the meadows or meads are mowed.
A Moon usually appears reddish when it’s close to the horizon because the light rays must pass through the densest layers of the atmosphere. Indeed, June’s full moon will be at its lowest point since 2006 because we’re in a lunar standstill.
A lunar standstill or lunistice is when the Moon reaches its furthest north or furthest south point during a month.
Are the flowers in your garden patch coming up now?
As with some of the other full moon names, the one in May represents what is happening in the season. Thus Native Americans, early settlers and European planters called it, among other names, the Flower Moon.
Celtic and Old English background names include Mothers’ Moon, Bright Moon, Hare Moon, and Grass Moon, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. No surprise then that in 2025 the May Full Moon happens on Mother’s Day.
It was already mostly full and bright last night, May 8, in Chicago, but it actually gets fuller and reaches full illumination there on Monday, May 12 in the middle of the day at 11:56 a.m.
Different American tribes such as the Dakotas and Algonquins were known to call it by that name. The Cree tribe used Budding Moon.
If looking up tonight, also watch for Spica, a bright star, hovering around the moon, according to Space.
The May Full Moon is a micro moon. Micro moon is applied when the Full Moon’s orbit is farthest from Earth. In this case that would be 405,278 kilometers (251,828 miles) away, according to Time and Date.
It won’t look any smaller and may even appear bigger due to the optical Moon illusion.
Watch for the Eta Aquarids meteor shower. Going on now, its best Chicago area watch dates in 2025 are before dawn May 5-6 when you may catch up to 50 meteors per hour. The Eta Aquarids is one of two meteor showers created by debris from Comet Halley (1P/Halley). The next time Earth passes through Halley’s path around the Sun is in October as the Oronid meteor shower.
Well, not really pink. That is what the full moon on April 12, 2025 is called.
As you likely know from reading this full moon series, the titles refer either to Native American’s views of the seasons, the European growing times or the flora and fauna early American settlers noticed as seasons changed.
The April Pink full moon derived its title from Phlox subulata, a North American wildflower often called creeping phlox, moss phlox and moss pink.
The 2025 Pink Full Moon is at its height of illumination at 8:22 p.m. EDT (00:22 Greenwich Mean Time April 13). That time is before it reaches apogee, the point where the Moon is farthest from Earth. Thus the April Pink Moon will look small, like a micro-moon. Of course you can watch for the moon to rise above the horizon.
Another important name for the April full moon is the Paschal Moon because it is the first ecclesiastical (14th day in the lunar cycle) full Moon of Spring after the equinox and determines the date of Easter.
Yes, you can watch for the moon at sunset a day or two before April 12 and a day or two afterwards.
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore land in a SpaceX Dragon spacecraft off the coast of Tallahassee, Florida, March 18, 2025 after an unpredictably long nine months at the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA/Keegan Barber
We’re celebrating Spring, a good time to applaud the two astronauts’ return to Earth and the change of seasons.
It’s OK to be confused. Those of us recently told to “Spring forward” might have thought our weather was about to change along with our moving one-hour-ahead time.
For many of us in the Midwest it did. We didn’t get much flower and crop growing rain. But we experienced some warmer temps. Strangely enough they came every other day as if Mother Nature was trying to balance the seasonal changes in weather.
Well, now that we are actually checking our phone or2025 paper calendar we see that Spring is marked as happening on Thursday, March 20. Why?
In the Northern Hemisphere Spring is tied to the March Vernal Equinox. That is when the Sun crosses the middle of the equator moving from south to north. It is also the first day of Autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.
In Chicago, Illinois, that happens at 4:01 am CDT, Thursday, March 20, 2025. (Corresponding UTC is at 09:01.)
Remember that Meteorological Spring started on March 1 and runs through May 31 every year no matter the timing of the vernal equinox.
BTW March 2025 may be remembered more as the month our two astronauts stuck at the International Space Station finally returned to Earth in time to celebrate the first day of Spring.
The skies will be particularly interesting in March
Don’t forget to wear something green on St. Pats Day, March 15. But first mark March 13-14 for a lunar eclipse. Then, mark March 29 for when the New Moon covers part of the Sun in a partial solar eclipse.
The March Full Moon is known as the Worm Moon for when the soil and weather is right for earthworms to peek out. It is also called the Lenten Moon reflecting the timing of the pre-Easter Lent period.
The March full moon 2024 is the closest full moon to the March equinox. It’s also called the Sugar Moon for when to tap tree sap. (Check your local forest and park districts which may be holding sugar tapping events.)
Lunar Eclipse It’s not just the sun that has eclipses. Watch the moon disappear March 13-14, 2025.
Visible from all of North America, the March full moon will have a total Lunar Eclipse. The Moon will enter its penumbra stage at 11:56 P.M. EDT (8:56 P.M. PDT), March 13 and the umbra at 1:09 A.M. EDT on March 14 (10:09 P.M. PDT, March 13).
It will leave the umbra stage at 4:48 A.M. EDT (1:48 A.M. PDT) on March 14 and the penumbra at 6:02 A.M. EDT (3:02 A.M. PDT). No solar glasses needed.
During a lunar eclipse, the Sun, Moon, and Earth are in a line with the Earth between the Moon and Sun. Therefore, our planet casts a reddish shadow over the Moon (also known as the umbra).
The full bright “Blood” or “Earthworm” Moon will be at peak illumination at 2:55 A.M. ET on Friday, March 14. However, look for a bright Moon rising above the horizon, Thursday evening.
Because it will look closer to us near the horizon, it will look large. That’s called a Moon illusion.
Partial Solar Eclipse
It can be viewed in northeastern North America around sunrise and mid-morning across Europe. (Sunrise is at 6:31 EDT in Boston.). The moon’s central shadow will miss Earth so no totality but it will still be a solar eclipse.
According to Space much of Europe will see a large partial solar eclipse.
The best views will be for in the far eastern area of North America, where an eclipsed sun will appear on the eastern horizon at sunrise.
