FULL MOON: Skywatcher Maxim Senin caught the full moon during the moon's conjunction with Mars, March 7, 2012, in Long Beach, CA. Says he: "Mars, it's round and red/orange, but too blurred to see any features in my telescope."
Image: Maxim Senin
Friday (April 6) brings us the first full moon of the new spring season.
The official moment that the moon turns full is 19:19 UT, or 3:19 p.m. EDT.
Traditionally, the April full moon is known as "the Pink Moon," supposedly as a tribute to the grass pink or wild ground phlox, considered one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other monikers include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon and, among coastal Native American tribes, the Full Fish Moon, for when the shad came upstream to spawn.
(Traditional names for the full moons of the year are found in some publications, such as the Farmers' Almanac. We also published the complete list of full moon names here on SPACE.com. The origins of these names have been traced back to Native America, though they may also have evolved from old England or, as Guy Ottewell, editor of the annual publication Astronomical Calendar, suggests, "writer's fancy.")
The first full moon of spring is usually designated as the Paschal Full Moon or the Paschal Term. Traditionally, Easter is observed on the Sunday after the Paschal Full Moon. If the Paschal Moon occurs on a Sunday, Easter is the following Sunday. [Photos: Full Moon Captivates Skywatchers in February 2012]
Following these rules, we find that the date of Easter can fall as early as March 22 and as late as April 25. Pope Gregory XIII decreed this in 1582 as part of the Gregorian calendar. So according to the current ecclesiastical rules, Easter Sunday in 2012 is to be celebrated April 8.
Interestingly, these rules also state that the vernal equinox is fixed on March 21, despite the fact that from the years 2008 through 2101, at European longitudes it actually will occur no later than March 20.
Adding additional confusion is that there is also an "ecclesiastical" full moon, determined from ecclesiastical tables, whose date does not necessarily coincide with the "astronomical" full moon, which is based solely on astronomical calculations. In 1981, for example, the full moon occurred on Sunday, April 19, so Easter should have occurred on the following Sunday, April 26. But based on the ecclesiastical full moon, it occurred on the same day of the astronomical full moon, April 19!
Hence, there can sometimes be discrepancies between the ecclesiastical and astronomical versions for dating Easter. In the year 2038, for instance, the equinox will fall on March 20, with a full moon the next day, so astronomically speaking, Easter should fall on March 28 of that year. In reality, however, as mandated by the rules of the church, Easter 2038 will be observed as late as it can possibly come, on April 25.
So in practice, the date of Easter is determined not from astronomical computations but rather from other formulae such as Golden Numbers.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, a proposal to change Easter to a fixed holiday rather than a movable one has been widely circulated, and in 1963 the Second Vatican Council said it would agree, provided a consensus could be reached among Christian churches. The second Sunday in April has been suggested as the most likely date. That, incidentally, works outs rather nicely this year.
Harvest moon effect, in reverse
The full moon occurring nearest to the autumnal equinox is traditionally called the Harvest Moon. What sets the Harvest Moon apart from the others is that instead of rising at its normal average of 50 minutes later each day, it seems to rise at nearly the same time for several nights.
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Add CommentIn the Christian Orthodox Church, the calculation of the date for Easter differs with the inclusion of considering Passover. When in fact Christ entered Jerusalem for Passover, Palm Sunday, which would be tomorrow, and crucified on the following Friday, then Easter, His resurrection is next Sunday. Whenever celebrating the Feast, may it be kept in Hope.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisHis Noodliness is certainly worthy. Praise be to pasta.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisActually, to be totally accurate, the article MUST state that "Passover" & "Christ" are in direct oppostion to the worship of a 'pagan' goddess as well as all the symbols & traditions associated with 'Easter'...! After all, isn't science part and parcel with a search for truth?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisGolden Numbers?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAbout that pagan thing. yep! Most science originated through the mysteries. But the mysteries were taken from the pagan, or more correctly, the neolithics.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisStonehenge would probably have Eostar in it's computer.
So I have Q's: What formula did the prechristian peoples use for the original date of awakening? And has that date be found through studying Stonehenge or other neolithic alignments?
Not sure where your going with your questions? The original date of the awakening for Christians is the Day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit was given to mankind by Christ. That would be 50 days after Easter, ten days after his Ascension into Heaven. I'll let the astronomers figure out what the pull is on those dates.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisRegret on Apr 6 I had not see the full moon，but tonight I find the moon still very light and big。
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAncient peoples celebrated the equinox itself, as Ostara in Northern Europe. It was the first day of the calendar in ancient Rome, before the Julian changes. It also started the ecclesiastical year in Israel, with Passover falling on the next full moon. (The civil year started in the fall, with Rosh Ha-Shanah. All pre-Christian festivals in Europe were tied to specific astronomical events, and the halfway marks between them, called cross-quarter days, were also holidays, e.g. Beltane (May Day) and Samhain (Halloween).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this@thinkitthrough: Passover (Pesah.) and Shavuot (Pentecost) are the only Jewish holidays that occur on the full moon; other than those two days, the full moon has no significance at all in Judaism. It is true that the first day of the month of Nisan, the month in which Passover falls, is defined Biblically as the beginning of the year, but the the year begins on the first of the month, i.e., the new moon, not the full moon. Rosh haShanah is nowhere defined in the Bible as the beginning of the year, civil or otherwise, but only as the feast of the seventh month (counting from Nisan).
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIt is amazing how such "thoughtful" scientific minds are absolutely clueless when it comes to matters of faith. If you have no faith, that's fine. America is all about live and let live. Yet to mock so foolishly another's honest beliefs as a Christian says something about the coarseness of our present dialogue. Mockery is simply so declasse. If you have a valid point to make, then please do so. If you are a crude sort who can only mock, well, you have already taken away the doubt of who and what you are. I will enjoy my Faith and will be consoled that I know the why of my existence. Those who mock may have never even asked the question of "why" we are here, and so reprehensible disprespectful behavior results. The article on Easter's date and the Earth's satellite was interesting, but no more than that. The occasion of Easter is what counts for me. For those for whom it means nothing, well, fine. Have a nice day. For us for whom it mean something, I'm sorry, but our day(s) will be finer, because it actually means something. Vive la difference.
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