I missed the full moon this month because it was overcast, but caught it one day after full, when skies were clearer and it was still strikingly large and beautiful.
I happened to mention this to a Taiwanese colleague, and she said (in English), "Yes, everyone's talking about it because it's a Crown Moon" -- anyway, I thought that was what she said.
"Sorry, a Crown Moon? What's that?" -- switching to Chinese -- "Do you mean the moon has a corona tonight? I didn't see one. There aren't any clouds!"
She replied in English, "No, a Krau Moon."
"Crowd Moon?"
"No, C-R-O-W, Crow" -- but she had been mispronouncing it so that it rhymed with now rather than with know.
"Oh, a Crow Moon! -- but what's that?"
She didn't know, either, but a quick online search showed that it's a traditional North American term for the full moon of March, also known as the Worm Moon. (Why would the fact that it occurred in March make this full moon especially noteworthy? Your guess is as good as mine.)
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So my colleague had been trying to say crow and I figured she must be talking about a corona. Anyone who has been following Bruce Charlton's recent posts about "corvids" will know why I consider that a sort of synchronicity.
6 comments:
Pretty nifty.
I've been feeding the crows who gather in the parking lot at my job for years now, one of the many reasons my coworkers think I'm a weirdo. Yesterday, some of them were watching me from the window at lunchtime while I went outside for my ritual scattering of the bread and crackers. The big alpha crow who I've been coddling for years flew over my head close enough to blow my hair around, and then he did a sharp banking turn and came back and landed very near my feet. Four others swooped down from the nearby trees and joined him. I looked over and saw almost the entire office watching from the window. When I went back inside, I was thinking that I'd give a year's pay if I could figure a way to make my eyes glow red at that moment. Or at least get one of the crows to land on my shoulder.
The corvids are getting everywhere, these days.
Aside: from where I live, the full moon (well, any moon) rotates clockwise through the night - about a quarter turn. The rabbit ears start at about 12:00 and end-up (the next morning, before moonset) about 3:00.
I don't know the official reason, but I think it may be due to me being at a high latitude and viewing the moon at different angles as it orbits. So, if I am correct, there should be some, but less, rotation from your latitude.
https://www.mooninfo.org/moon-phases/new-moon-2020.html
Every full moon has a traditional fancy name, so March is not particularly special in that regard.
Yes, that's why "Everyone's talking about it because it's a Crow Moon" seems like such a strange thing to say.
Bruce, I hadn't notice the moon's rotating, but I'll start paying attention. I have noticed, though, that the crescent moon is differently orientated here than at higher latitudes. It tends to lie on its convex side with both horns up, like a smile.
@Wm - I think that is because the moon sets and rises at a more vertial angle, closer to the equator. The bright crescent points towards wherever the sun is at that time.
Up here, the sun skims down gradually below the horizon, taking a long time to set (or rise) - especially in winter - so we don't see the moon lying on its back.
The furthest south I've been is Tenerife (and Galveston); and to me the fall of night felt like somebody switching off a light.
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