The space that require professional telescopes to see, other objects can be seen with nothing more than the naked eye. From intricate constellations, occasional sightings of Mars, and the ISS ing by, there's plenty to see if you just take a moment to look up.
Also visible in the sky above is the Moon. Despite being over 230,000 miles away from Earth, the Moon is often clearly visible using nothing but your eyes. This is especially true when it's a full Moon. Once a month, the Sun, Earth, and Moon line up just right so that the Moon is perfectly illuminated in the night sky. This happened on January 17 with the Wolf Moon and again on February 16 with the most recent Snow Moon.
If you didn't get a chance to see the full Snow Moon last night, the good news is that it'll still be mostly visible tonight, February 17. Additionally, many people took amazing photos of the full Moon last night that you can view right now. One of the best full Moon photos comes from Its many craters are clearly visible, as are hues of red and blue. While the version of the photo here is a compressed one, the original photo from McCarthy is 170MP large!
Other Incredible Photos Of The 2022 Full Snow Moon
Of course, that's not the only Snow Moon photo captured last night. Astronauts aboard NASA's Space Shuttle Endeavor captured the above picture, showing the Snow Moon towering above pesky clouds on Earth. It appears as a very faint circle off in the distance, serving as a good reminder of how minuscule the Moon truly is compared to the vastness of space.
Another excellent Snow Moon photo comes from @Yosnier_ on Twitter. They ed a couple of pictures of the full Moon, and using some editing magic with Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom, gave it a hot, fiery appearance that's absolutely mesmerizing. It's a more artistic photo rather than a 100 percent accurate one, but that doesn't stop it from being any less beautiful.
Seeing the Moon against the black sky is great, but it doesn't offer much context for how big the Snow Moon really appeared. Photographer Ray Mackey captured this perfectly with their full Moon photo. Mackey captured the Snow Moon setting against the backdrop of St John's, Newfoundland. It looks absolutely gigantic here, and its beauty alongside the nearby buildings creates a calming scene unlike any other.
Going from calming to eerie, that's exactly what photographer Jamie Reynolds did with their Snow Moon pictures. It was particularly cloudy in certain parts of the world last night, and Reynolds shows that perfectly in their snaps of the Moon. The Snow Moon is seen peering out from behind heavy clouds in the evening sky, giving it a truly haunting look.
And, last but certainly not least, we have a few Snow Moon photos from astrophotographer Rami Ammoun. Ammoun's pictures are simply breathtaking. The first image shows the Snow Moon alongside stray clouds and the branches of a tree. Paired with countless stars and a bright yellow glow around it, the Snow Moon is represented amazingly here. Ammoun also shared an up-close view of the same photo, further highlighting the fine details all throughout the Moon's surface.
As mentioned above, the Snow Moon will be mostly visible throughout the evening on Thursday, February 17. Furthermore, space fans will be able to see next month's full Moon — the Worm Moon — when it appears in the sky on March 18.
Source: Andrew McCarthy, NASA