Full Moon Bonfire
Saturday, February 24, 2024
Location: On the beach between BW 1 and 2
Sunset – 6:12 pm
Moonrise – 6:30 pm
High Tide – 8:31 pm
Full Snow Moon
No snow in the forecast but cool February evenings make for a pleasant time to gather again for a bonfire on the beach.
To keep things simple, each person brings what you want: food, drinks, chairs, and a stick of firewood for a big bonfire. Nothing will be provided but a beautiful beach, a bonfire, and a full moon.
Hopefully, the weather remains accommodating. People ask if the bonfire will be held if it’s rainy. The bonfire will be canceled if it is raining or rain is threatening as few would be comfortable attending.
By terms of the permit, the fire needs to be out no later than 10:00 pm. The earlier sunset and moonrise times give us time to enjoy the evening.
February’s full moon is a “Micromoon” this year. Think of this term as the opposite of a “Supermoon.” It simply means that the full moon is at its farthest point from Earth (not the nearest point). In astronomical terms, we call this apogee. Specifically, February’s micro full moon is about 252,225 miles from Earth.
Other night sky observation opportunities:
The International Space Station is not scheduled to be visible this evening.
According to spacetourismguide.com, there are no spectacular night sky activities at the end of February.
There are no scheduled SpaceX launches scheduled for the end of this week.
Starlink is a chain of satellites that reside in low-Earth orbit in outer space. SpaceX launched the satellite constellation into orbit in 2019 and provides worldwide broadband internet services. It appears brighter than the space station and looks like a stream of lights is running across the sky. ISS Starlink app provides the dates and times it would be visible in the next 5 days. This app says Starlink should have good visibility for 9 minutes beginning at 6:18pm from Northwest to Southeast. Since this is so soon after sunset, I’m more likely to believe findstarlink.com that indicates there are no scheduled times of good visibility.
Put these dates for the Full Moon Bonfires on your calendar:
- Monday, March 25 – This is the Monday before Easter and the day of the full moon but a bonfire will be held only if someone else volunteers to host.
- Tuesday, April 23
- Thursday, May 23
There’s always plenty of room on the beach for everyone, so invite a friend or bring your houseguests.
How the full moon got its name:
Per The Old Farmer’s Almanac: February – Full Snow Moon: February is typically a time of heavy snowfall.
Other names: The names of the Moon are most often related to natural signs of the season or to activities that were done at this time of year. Some of our favorites include:
• Bald Eagle Moon (Cree)
• Bear Moon (Ojibwe)
• Black Bear Moon (Tlingit)
• Month of the Bony Moon (Cherokee)
• Eagle Moon (Cree)
• Goose Moon (Haida)
• Groundhog Moon (Algonquin)
• Hungry Moon (Cherokee)
• Raccoon Moon (Dakota)
I found another website that says the Cherokee Indians called it the Bony Moon and the English Medieval name was the Storm Moon. Another website says the Chinese call it Budding Moon.
-Submitted by Judy Morr