Moon-bathers will want to mark their calendars for their next lunar-loving session as the Metro Vancouver weather warms up.
The next full moon takes place on Friday, May 5, and is known as the "Flower Moon."
Last year, May's fullest lunar offering coincided with a total lunar eclipse, producing an awe-inspiring display for locals. The celestial event was called a "blood flower moon" because a solar eclipse makes the moon appear to have a reddish-orange colour.
Marley Leacock, an astronomer at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre, told V.I.A. in a previous interview that the eclipse appears to be that colour because the light hits our atmosphere and scatters.
"The blue light gets scattered out really quickly and what remains is the red and the orange light and that's what turns the moon red," she explained.
The moon will appear at its fullest in Metro Vancouver on May 5 at 10:34 a.m., according to timeanddate.com.
Why is it called a "flower moon"?
According to the Old Farmer's Almanac: "The May full Moon marked a time of increasing fertility, with temperatures warm enough for safely bearing young, a near end to late frosts, and plants in bloom." It notes that Native peoples would give distinctive names to each reoccurring full moon to mark the change of seasons. As such, many of these names arose when Native Americans first interacted with colonists.
Space.com adds that the April full moon also goes by other names including the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and the Full Fish Moon.
A couple of months ago, locals captured images of a rainbow halo around the full worm moon. Have a look at the illuminated, billowy clouds in a series of photos and videos.
