Snow moon to shine all weekend

Feb. 7 (UPI) -- The next full moon will officially appear on Sunday, but NASA said the moon will appear full on Friday and Saturday evenings, too, making this a full moon weekend.

The second full moon of winter, February's only full moon, is sometimes called the snow moon. The full moon gets its nickname from the lunar naming traditions of Native American tribes in the Northeast.

"Across North America, there are many different tribes with different languages and different names for the full moons throughout the year," according to NASA.

The snow moon arrives during one of the snowiest months of the year. For Native Americans, the heavy snow storms that blanketed the Northeast during January and February made hunting difficult, which is why some tribes called the winter's second full moon the storm moon or hunger moon.

The Maine Farmer's Almanac first published Native American nicknames for calendar's full moons in the 1930s.

Cherokee Indians refer to February's full moon as the bone moon, another reference to the season's scarcity.

This year's snow moon will reach peak brightness at 2:33 a.m. ET on Sunday morning.

On Saturday evening, as dusk turns to darkness, Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo the Lion, will trace the moon's path into the eastern sky.

"Because the moon is opposite the sun at full moon, the February full moon mimics the path of the sun six months from now, or in early August," according to EarthSky. "From around the world, the August sun -- like the February full moon -- rises north of due east and sets north of due west."

Some are describing this weekend's full moon as a supermoon, though not everyone agrees on the definition of the term or whether February's full moon qualifies.

Supermoons are full moons that occur when the moon is considerably closer to Earth, or those during the perigean portion of the moon's orbit. Of the 13 full moons expected in 2020, February's full moon is the fourth closest.

Some consider the top four closest full moons to be supermoons, while others claim only the two closest, the full moons of March and April, qualify.