Worm moon to include extra special feature early Monday morning

It might be a little later in the evening for some folks, but the full worm moon will be putting on a show early Monday morning.

March’s full moon, referred to as the worm moon by the Farmers’ Almanac because of its proximity to the spring equinox, will be at its fullest at 3 a.m.

A couple of hours before that, beginning at 12:53 a.m., the moon will be almost perfectly aligned with the sun and Earth, causing the outer edge of Earth’s shadow, known as the penumbra, to be cast onto the glowing orb.

The height of the eclipse will be in the wee hours of Monday morning, at 3:12 a.m.

According to EarthSky, “The penumbral shadow isn’t the dark shadow of Earth. It’s the lighter part of the shadow. Some will look at the moon and swear the eclipse isn’t happening. Other very observant people will notice and enjoy the odd, light shading on the moon’s face.”

The full worm moon got its name from some Native American tribes because of its arrival around the same time that earthworms begin appearing at the surface of the soil.

Some evidence also points to the name for March’s full moon as a reference to some other “worms” surfacing at this time of year. Captain Jonathan Carver, after a visit with some Native American tribes in the 1760s, wrote in his journal that the name for the full moon in March referred to beetle larvae emerging both from the soil and from under the bark on trees, according to a PennLive story from 2021.

Some other names for the full moon of March are crow moon, eagle moon and goose moon, which recognize the reappearance of those birds as winter comes to an end; the sugar moon, in reference to sap flowing in maple trees; and the sore eyes moon for the blinding light reflecting off any remaining snow.

It also has been termed the paschal moon when it’s the first full moon on or after March 21.

The April moon is called the pink moon.

Before that happens, this part of the world will get to experience a solar eclipse, on April 8. The total solar eclipse path will begin over the South Pacific Ocean and cross North America, passing over Mexico, the United States, and Canada, according to NASA. A partial eclipse will be visible throughout all 48 contiguous U.S. states.