Earth & Sky

First full moon of springtime on March 21

Tonight's Sky for Friday, Mar 21 2008

The March full moon – the northern hemisphere’s first full moon of spring – comes today, at 18:40 (6:40 p.m.) Universal Time. To find the full moon time for the Central Time zone in North America, subtract 5 hours. That’s 13:40 (1:40 p.m) Central Daylight Time. Since this is during daytime, the full moon lurks beneath our horizon. On the other side of the world – like in India – the full moon occurs right at midnight, so it shines high in India’s sky.

At the vicinity of full moon, the moon rises around sunset, climbs highest in the sky around midnight and sets around sunrise. Around the world tonight, look for a full-looking moon to shine from dusk till dawn.

For the southern hemisphere, this is the first full moon of autumn. Because this full moon comes closest to the March 20th equinox, it’s the southern hemisphere’s Full Harvest Moon. On the nights following the Full Harvest Moon, the lag time between sunset and moonrise is reduced to a yearly low.

For instance, at 40 degrees south latitude, the moon rises about 20 minutes later tomorrow night. In contrast, the springtime moon at 40 degrees north latitude rises over one hour later tomorrow than it does today.

Written by Bruce McClure , 21 March 08

5 Comments for First full moon of springtime on March 21

1. 1

   Mar 21, 01:52 AM #

   Woody says:

   I used my new telescope (5” Mak) to look at Saturn tonight — for the first time — with the help of this web site (to figure out where to look).

   I can not express the joy and wonder. I feel like I’m 5 years old again!!!

   Heheheh

   Just wanted to share that. I suspect many of you know how I feel this evening!!!

   And thanks for the dead on info. I’ll be back to visit this site a LOT!

2. Mar 21, 01:16 PM #

   Deborah Byrd says:

   Woody, cool! Thanks for sharing.

   Deborah

3. 2

   Mar 21, 05:14 PM #

   Bruce McClure says:

   Woody,

   Look forward to your many visits. Thanks for writing!

   Bruce

4. 3

   Mar 21, 11:40 PM #

   Kevin says:

   I agree with you woody. I haven’t posted before on this site but it has been in my favorites for 3 months. Once I read the post about Saturn which allowed me to find it, I was hooked. Tons of great info, thanks

5. 4

   Mar 22, 11:03 AM #

   Bruce McClure says:

   Kevin,

   Thanks for the kind comments! The skywatching section of Earth & Sky is made for people like you and Woody. Please visit us again & often!

   Bruce