Celebration of Space - February 7, 2025
The Full Snow Moon of February happens on Wednesday, February 12, 2025.
On Wednesday, February 19, 2025 at 5:00 pm, the Frosty Drew Memorial Fund will host the annual meeting of the Board of Directors. This is a chance for Frosty Drew to plan out our year. Topics of the meeting will include new projects and expansions of our operations, events for 2025, and an update / outlook of our five year plan. The annual meeting also allows us to reflect on how far we have come as an organization and the impacts that we have had on the region. For more information send a reply to astronomer@frostydrew.org.
This past Sunday, February 2, 2025 was Groundhog Day. The groundhog – Punxsutawney Phil, saw his shadow, predicting 6 more weeks of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. If only it was that easy.. Regardless of the musings of an alleged groundhog seer, Groundhog Day has an astronomical significance, as it is one of the four cross-quarter days of the year.
Cross-quarter days mark the midpoint between the Solstices and Equinoxes. Which currently places us into the second half of winter. You may have noticed that, even though we are getting snow and it’s cold out, the days are getting longer, and the Sun is getting higher in the daytime sky. The Vernal Equinox will occur on March 20, 2025, which will kick off the spring season in the Northern Hemisphere. Other cross-quarter days of the year are May Day, Lammas, and Halloween. For those who do not advocate for winter, you’re more than halfway there. Something to think about while dealing with 6-9 inches of snow this weekend.
This coming Wednesday, February 12, 2025, at 8:54 am, the Moon will arrive back in alignment with Earth and the Sun on the opposite side of Earth. This marks the full lunar phase of February. Commonly referred to as the Full Snow Moon of February, which will certainly live up to its name this week in Southern New England. Now that we are past the February cross-quarter day – Groundhog Day, the Moon is starting to drop in the nighttime sky. Until the Vernal equinox occurs, the Moon will still cross the sky quite high, but not as high as the Full Cold Moon of December. Considering that Southern New England is expecting another bout of snow Tuesday and Wednesday nights, catching a view of the Full Cold Moon will probably not happen. Regardless, if you find a clearing, step out to see the Moon lighting up the snowy landscape.
Some events to note in the sky this coming week will be Sunday night when the 93% waxing gibbous Moon will be about 3º eastward of Mars, showing a fantastic conjunction. Then on Wednesday, the full Moon will be accompanied with the bright springtime star, Regulus, sitting about 1.5º westward. Tonight, Jupiter will arrive at its closest point to Aldebaran and the Hyades, which make up the face of Taurus the bull. This conjunction will continue all week and marks the end of Jupiter’s retrograde motion for our current orbit.
