"February's Micromoon: The Snow Moon Rises Tonight"
The full moon on February 24, 2024, known as the "Snow Moon" or "Hunger Moon", will also be the smallest of the year, rising during dusk. Referred to as a "minimoon" or "micromoon" by NASA, it occurs a little over a day before apogee, when the Moon is farthest from the Earth in its orbit. The name "Snow Moon" originates from the 1930s when the Maine Farmers' Almanac began publishing "Indian" names for full Moons, with the northeastern US tribes calling it the Snow or Storm Moon due to heavy snows in the season, while "Hunger Moon" reflects the difficult hunting conditions caused by bad weather and heavy snowstorms.