The March full moon occurs this year on Friday the 14th, here are some facts about the astrological phenomenon of full moons and how often they happen.
Syzygy
Syzygy is a real scientific term believe it or not and is pronounced “siz-a-gee”, and it’s worth 21 points in Scrabble, it’s an astronomical position that is required for a full moon to happen.
Technically speaking the Moon is only really ‘full’ for a few days, this is the period when the face of the Moon we see from the Earth, which is always the same side as the Moon is what is called ‘tidally locked’, reflects the most sunlight. For this to happen ‘Syzygy’ must occur, this is when the Earth is positioned exactly between the Moon and the Sun, this happened at 2:55am.
The Worm Moon
As with other full Moons throughout the year this one has its own nickname; the ‘Worm Moon’, this seems to have been something that begun with the 2014 ‘blood moon’ eclipse and has become a tradition that tabloid newspapers and other media have kept up with ever since, probably as some of the names are fairly sensational sounding.
There are several possible sources for this nickname, some claim it originates from a group of Native Americans who named it after the worm trails that become visible on the newly-thawed ground as spring begins. Another theory is that the name originated from beetle larvae emerging from the thawing bark of trees at this time. Others claim it originates from old farmers almanacs, no one is entirely sure though and recently there have been accusations that grouping all Native Americans into one group shows an enormous lack of cultural sensitivity.
How frequent are full Moons?
Full Moons occur roughly every 29.5 days, which is the length of one lunar cycle, this means they happen around about once every month, in fact the word for ‘month’ comes from the word ‘Moon’.
If you manage to take any good snaps of this years Worm moon why not share them here? Let’s hope the weathers clear enough!
A B-H
(Updated every year, in 2025 the March full moon was partially eclipsed in the UK overnight, unfortunately we were unable to see it here in Padiham)
Northwest Nature and History 