On Tuesday evening the first full moon of Spring – the Worm Moon – was visible in the night sky above Edinburgh.
In some parts of the world – in Australia and the Americas a Blood Moon was visible, but for us in Edinburgh we had to “make do” with a spectacular huge moon rising above the horizon in the east in the early evening.
In the US the Blood Moon heralded a total lunar eclipse (when the Earth passes between the Sun and the Moon casting a shadow onto the Moon) with the Moon turning deep red. Red and orange light pass through the atmosphere more easily, and the Blood Moon occurs when the sun’s light is blocked from shining on the moon, turning the Moon a shade of red.
The Worm Moon is so called as it is around now that earthworms come to the surface as the ground warms up.
Each month (or every 27 days) there is a new moon with a different name.Next month there will be a Pink Moon named after American flowers by Native Americans.
