Full Moon 20:46 on Thursday 7th – in Northern hemisphere this is called a flower Moon. It is also the last of the so called super moons of this year.
The tradition of naming Moons is rich in history. They are traditionally Native American Moon names and the folklore of early pioneers who to help track the seasons.
May’s Full Flower Moon name is not surprising if you live in the Northern hemisphere since it is when the flowers spring forth in abundance.
This year, we’ve been enjoying a series of Autumn super moons starting in March then April was the closest the Moon was to us this year and finishing with this months Full Moon on May 7.
When the full Moon appears this month, it will be ever-so-slightly farther away than it was in April and March. May’s full Moon still qualifies as a supermoon, but it won’t be as bright or as big as the others in the series, technically speaking. However, the difference in distance between its orbit and April’s—about 2500 miles—is not much in the grand scale of space, so you will still see a bright, beautiful supermoon!
On average, supermoons are about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical full Moon.
The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Tuesday evening through Friday morning.
The term “supermoon” was coined by the astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 and refers to either a new or full Moon that occurs within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit. Under this definition, in a typical year there can be three or four full supermoons in a row and three or four new supermoons in a row.