dipper@utastro.UUCP (Debbie Byrd) (02/24/86)
Tonight there's a full moon. More on when February doesn't have a full moon -- when we come back. February 24 Moonless Februarys There's a full moon tonight -- rising round and bright in the east as the sun sets in the west. The moon is full at exactly 9:02 a.m. central standard time today. That's the moment the moon passes the point in its orbit opposite the sun as seen from Earth. Full moons occur just a little over 29 days apart. That's a little longer than it takes the moon to go once around the Earth. The difference comes because the Earth is traveling around the sun -- so each month the moon must move farther around in its orbit of Earth to become a full moon again. Remember, the moment of full moon is the point where once again the moon is opposite the sun as seen from Earth. The phases of the moon -- the way it looks in our sky -- gave rise to the idea of dividing the year into months. The word "month" comes from the word "moon." A long time ago the months were given an arbitrary number of days that have nothing to do with the moon. So now sometimes a month can have two full moons. The last time that happened was last July. One month never has two full moons. That's February, the shortest month, with only 28 days. Even when February gets an extra day in leap years -- that's not quite enough time to fit in a second full moon. And sometimes February gets completely shortchanged. In l934 February had no full moon. That will happen again in l999. But this year February does have a full moon. Look for it yourself -- tonight. Script by Diana Hadley. (c) Copyright 1985, 1986 McDonald Observatory, University of Texas at Austin