January's full moon heads for the horizon in the early morning hours. In Native American folklore, this is the Wolf Moon, named for the packs of wolves howling and foraging for food in winter's bleak cold and snow.
Tags: arlington virginia moon full moon wolf moon astronomy astrophotography pentagon city dcist luna
© All Rights Reserved
Saturn lurks near a totally eclipsed moon.
A moon at mid-eclipse also serves as that month's full moon. In Native American traditions in the north and east, February's full moon is the Snow Moon, as winter weather is usually the worst during the year's shortest month.
Total lunar eclipse, February 20-21, 2008, from Arlington, Virginia.
Tags: arlington virginia moon luna total lunar eclipse astronomy astrophotography dcist saturn
© All Rights Reserved
The Worm Moon rises over the Lincoln Memorial, colored by haze, airborne dust, high clouds, and pollution.
This year's Worm Moon also serves as the Paschal Moon, the first full moon on or after the ecclesiastical date of the vernal equinox, which, in Western Christian tradition, is always March 21 regardless of the date of the actual astronomical equinox. Easter falls on the first Sunday after the Paschal Moon.
DCist.com, March 24, 2008: "Worm Moon Rising"
highest Explore: #45
Tags: washington dc district of columbia arlington virginia lincoln memorial full moon worm moon red pollution moonrise dcist national marine corps memorial iwo jima memorial twilight explore paschal moon dc social luna NGTDC
© All Rights Reserved
The Belle Haven Marina ospreys relax in the light of the Pink Moon, April's full lunar phase. This also happens to be 2009's Paschal Full Moon that determines the date of Easter (the Sunday on or after the first full moon after the vernal equinox, which the Catholic Church has fixed as March 21).
Tags: alexandria virginia fairfax county belle haven marina potomac river osprey Pandion haliaetus bird of prey birds nature george washington memorial parkway national park service nps raptor full moon pink moon paschal moon silhouette nest reflection moonlight dcist night luna
© All Rights Reserved
Orange moon rising -- just hours after achieving full status.
In folklore, June's moon is the Strawberry Moon, universally known by every Algonquin tribe in North America. In Europe, this is the Rose Moon.
Tags: moon astrophotography astronomy gibbous almost full PhotoFaceOffWinner strawberry moon PFOGold luna
© All Rights Reserved