Sky Watching: Don't Miss The 'Full Snow Moon' This Week

The February full moon or the Snow Moon will occur this Wednesday. It is also known by other names such as the Bear Moon and the Hungry Moon.

The next full moon will reach peak illumination at 11.57 a.m. ET, Wednesday and will appear full for three days starting from "midnight Tuesday morning to about midnight Thursday night," NASA noted.

Just like the other full moons of the year, the February full moon is known by quite a few names. One of them is Snow Moon, which comes simply from the heavy snow that's rather typical during the month of February. In fact, data from the National Weather Service shows February as the "snowiest month" in the U.S.

The Ojibwe name Bear Moon and the Tlingit name Black Bear Moon reference the time of the year when bear cubs are born, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. Meanwhile, the Cherokees call it the Month of the Bony Moon or the Hungry Moon as food tends to be more scarce at this time of the year because the bad weather makes hunting quite difficult. In Europe, the February full moon is also called the Wolf Moon or the Candles Moon.

The light of the moon will be too bright for stargazing during the full moon. In fact, natural moonlight tends to "wash out" the light from most of the stars so that only the brightest stars will be visible. So, the best time to go stargazing is in the days before or after the new moon when there is no moon in the sky.

However, that doesn't mean that you can't go sky watching during the full moon.

Although the full moon is quite easy to spot and lovely to see, The Old Farmer's Almanac suggests looking for it on the night of the peak or the night before it to get the best views. People should also check the cloud cover in the area where they are planning to watch the moon. Finding out the exact Moonrise time for the specific location, as well as choosing a spot where one can have ample, unobstructed views of the sky, are also important.

Sky watchers can also choose to bring a pair of binoculars or a telescope to have a closer look at it and perhaps even capture stunning pictures of our natural satellite.