Don’t forget to look up. The full moon of May 2024, nicknamed the “flower moon,” will soon be glowing in the night sky, just in time for the blooming gardens of early spring.
The moon will officially reach its fullest phase at 9:53 a.m. Eastern time on Thursday, May 23 — becoming the fifth of 12 full moons that will light up the sky in 2024. If you look into the sky Wednesday night, you can see the moon at 99% illumination, followed by the completely full moon Thursday night and a 99% full moon Friday night.
When to see the May full moon
In the New York City region and Newark area of New Jersey, the near-full May moon will begin to rise in the east-southeastern sky at7:44 p.m. on Wednesday, and the totally full moon will start rising in the southeastern sky at 8:52 p.m. on Thursday, according to TimeAndDate.com. It will be 99% full Wednesday night as it starts to rise at 9:58 p.m.
If you want to see the big morning moon as it is setting, it will be sinking in the west-southwestern sky at about 5:09 a.m. Thursday and in the southwestern sky at 5:48 a.m. Friday.
Common nicknames for the May full moon
The most popular nickname for the May full moon is the “flower moon,” because this is the month when many flowers start to bloom.
Some people refer to this moon by other nicknames originating from different native American tribes.
Among the monikers are the “bright moon,” the “milk moon,” the “mother’s moon,” “corn planting moon” and the “planting moon,” according to the Farmers’ Almanac and the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Dates, times, nicknames of full moons in 2024
We already had the full “wolf moon” on Jan. 25, the full “snow moon” on Feb. 24 and the full “worm moon” on March 25 — followed by the rare solar eclipse on April 8 and the full “pink moon” on April 23. These are the other full moons that are on the way in 2024:
- May 23: Full “flower moon” at 9:53 a.m.
- June 21: Full “strawberry moon” at 9:07 p.m.
- July 21: Full “buck moon” at 6:17 a.m.
- Aug. 19: Full “sturgeon moon” at 2:25 p.m. (supermoon)
- Sept. 17: Full “harvest moon” at 10:34 p.m. (supermoon)
- Oct. 17: Full “hunter’s moon” at 7:26 a.m. (supermoon)
- Nov. 15: Full “beaver moon” at 4:28 p.m. (supermoon)
- Dec. 15: Full “cold moon” at 4:01 a.m.
Thank you for relying on us to provide the local news you can trust. Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.
Len Melisurgo may be reached at LMelisurgo@njadvancemedia.com or on X at @LensReality.
