First March Full Moon Friday, March 2, Opens Second 2018 Blue Moon Month

Summary: The first March full moon Friday, March 2, at 00:51 Coordinated Universal Time opens the second 2018 blue moon month.

Double blue moon year 2018 features two sets of same-month full moons, separated by full moonless February: EarthSky @earthskyscience, via Twitter Feb. 7, 2018

The first March full moon Friday, March 2, at 00:51 Greenwich Mean Time/Coordinated Universal Time (Thursday, March 1, at 7:51 p.m. Eastern Standard Time) opens the second 2018 blue moon month, a phenomenon sparked by two full moons in January and none in February.

March’s second full moon closes the month. The blue moon takes place Saturday, March 31, at 12:37 GMT/UTC (8:37 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time).

The double blue moon year’s first blue moon happened Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 13:27 p.m. GMT/UTC (8:27 a.m. EST). January’s second full moon, known as a blue moon, was preceded by the month’s first full moon Tuesday, Jan. 2, at 02:24 GMT/UTC (Monday, Jan. 1, at 9:24 p.m. EST).

A blue moon makes a calendrical or a seasonal appearance. A calendrical blue moon requires the occurrence of two full moons within the same month. A seasonal blue moon describes the third of four full moons occurring within a single season of three months. Both of 2018’s blue moons meet the calendrical definition.

The double blue moon year’s first blue moon made a phenomenal appearance by participating in 2018’s first of two total lunar eclipses. The Jan. 31 blue moon total lunar eclipse also opened the year’s eclipse quintet that offers three partial solar eclipses in addition to 2018’s two total lunar eclipses.

The double blue moon year’s first blue moon also qualified as a supermoon. EarthSky Tonight lead writer Bruce McClure explains that the Jan. 31 super blue moon receives supermoon status through its moon-to-Earth center-to-center distance of 360,199 kilometers (approximately 223,817 miles). The term supermoon, coined by astrologer Richard Nolle, designates a new moon or full moon with a center-to-center distance of about 361,000 kilometers. The moon’s closeness to Earth gives the moon a noticeably larger-than-usual appearance.

January’s blue moon also closed a trio of successive full supermoons that began with Sunday, Dec. 3, 2017’s full moon supermoon. The December 2017 supermoon full moon’s center-to-center distance was 357,987 kilometers. January’s first full moon, Tuesday, Jan. 2, numbered as the trio’s second supermoon in occurrence, but as the trio’s largest, with a center-to-center distance of 356,846 kilometers.

March’s first full moon qualifies the month’s second full moon as a blue moon. Neither of March’s full moons participates in such noteworthy events as eclipses. Yet, their co-occurrence within the same month garners March’s status as a blue moon month and 2018’s stature as a double blue moon year.

March’s first full moon numbers as the third of three full moons occurring between December 2017’s solstice and March 2018’s equinox. The 2017 December solstice happened Thursday, Dec. 21, at 16:28 GMT/UTC (11:28 a.m. EST). January’s two full moons occurred as the first two full moons after the December solstice. December 2017’s solstice opened the Northern Hemisphere’s astronomical winter and the Southern Hemisphere’s astronomical spring.

The 2018 March equinox takes place Tuesday, March 20, at 16:15 UTC (12:15 p.m. EDT). March 2018’s equinox ushers in the Northern Hemisphere’s astronomical spring and the Southern Hemisphere’s astronomical winter.

March 2018’s second full moon, known as a blue moon, appears as the first of three full moons occurring between March 2018’s equinox and June 2018’s solstice. March’s blue moon is followed by the season’s second full moon Monday, April 30, at 00:58 GMT/UTC (Sunday, April 29, at 8:58 p.m. EDT). The season’s third of three full moons occurs Tuesday, May 29, at 14:20 GMT/UTC (10:20 a.m. EDT).

The takeaway for the first March full moon Friday, March 2, as opener for the second 2018 blue moon month is that March’s pair of full moons also frame the March equinox, marking seasonal passages in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.

March 2018’s first full moon, Thursday, March 1, at 01:00 UTC (8 p.m. EST), nine minutes after onset of fullness: Ernie Wright (USRA lead visualizer), John Keller (NASA GSFC scientist), Noah Petro (NASA GSFC scientist) and David Ladd (USRA producer), via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Acknowledgment

My special thanks to talented artists and photographers/concerned organizations who make their fine images available on the internet.

Image credits:

Double blue moon year 2018 features two sets of same-month full moons, separated by full moonless February: EarthSky @earthskyscience, via Twitter Feb. 7, 2018, @ https://twitter.com/earthskyscience/status/961304597175455746

March 2018’s first full moon, Thursday, March 1, at 01:00 UTC (8 p.m. EST), nine minutes after onset of fullness: Ernie Wright (USRA lead visualizer), John Keller (NASA GSFC scientist), Noah Petro (NASA GSFC scientist) and David Ladd (USRA producer), via NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio @ https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4604

For further information:

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Available @ http://earthsky.org/tonight/how-often-do-four-full-moons-happen-in-the-same-season

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Available @ http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon

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