Full Snow Moon To Rise Amid Parade Of Planets: When To Look Up In NJ

NEW JERSEY — Meteor showers remain on hiatus until April, but backyard astronomers in the Garden State still have plenty of reasons to poke their heads in the sky over the next few weeks.

The full snow moon will rise on Wednesday, Feb. 12, with the “Heart of the Lion,” or Regulus, the brightest star in the constellation Leo. The moon officially turns full at 8:53 a.m. ET Wednesday, but is best viewed at dusk, which occurs around 5:30 p.m. in New Jersey

The moon will appear full on Tuesday and Thursday nights as well. The weather forecast for the next few days in New Jersey calls for a significant chance of snow.

The February full moon is also known as the snow moon. According to The Old Farmer’s Almanac, Captain Jonathan Carver visited a Native American tribe in the 1760s and wrote the snow moon was so named by the people “because more snow commonly falls during this month than any other in the winter.”

The current forecast for New Jersey calls for snow showers Tuesday, and steadier chances for snow both Wednesday and Thursday.

For the best look at the moon, find a clear, unobstructed view of the eastern horizon. You don’t need a telescope or binoculars, but either will give a better view of lunar craters and Regulus, a “regal” companion, according to Space.com’s affiliated site, LiveScience, because it’s one of the four “royal stars” of ancient Persian astronomy. The others are Aldebaran in Taurus, Antares in Scorpius, and Fomalhaut in Piscis Austrinus.

Also this month, five planets will parade across the night sky, according to NASA. Here are the highlights:

• Venus looks brilliant in the west after sunset all month.
• Mars is bright and amber-orange colored, high in the east each evening. It’s also the last planet to set in the west a couple of hours before sunrise
• Giant Jupiter is high overhead in the evening, looking very bright.
• Mercury will pop up just above the horizon in late February, looking relatively bright as sunset fades.
• Saturn is somewhat faint but visible low in the western sky for about an hour after sunset. The ringed planet sinks lower in the sky as the month goes on.

The big event in late astronomical winter is the full blood moon — a total lunar eclipse — associated with March’s full worm moon. The moon reaches peak illumination on March 14, but the eclipse will begin the evening before.

Astronomical spring begins with the March equinox on the 20th. Meteor showers return in April with the Lyrids, which peak April 22-23, and the Eta Aquariids, which start April 15 and build toward a May 5-6 peak.

• Related: 2025 Guide To Meteor Showers, Full Blood Moon, Solar Eclipse, Supermoons