The second full moon of 2024, the Snow Moon of February, wowed skywatchers around the world with a dazzling display last night. February's full moon rose on Wednesday (Feb. 12) and remained high in the sky for most of the night before finally setting with the morning sun.

The Snow Moon rose on Feb. 12, 2025, marking the end of Chinese New Year and setting up both the beginning of Ramadan and a total lunar eclipse for North America.

Snow Moon tomorrow. ❄️ This time lapse video shows the Lunar Occultation of Mars visible from New Orleans, Louisiana, on Jan. 13, 2025. This first full moon of the year also blocked the planet Mars for around an hour. pic.twitter.com/XHbgiJP9S6

The moon reached its peak brightness at 8:53 a.m. EST (1353 GMT) on Feb. 12, but local moonrise and moonset times will depend on your location. As the February full moon rises, Mars will remain high in the sky to the upper right of the moon, creating a delightful skywatching scene.

There will also be two total lunar eclipses that occur during the March and September full moon events. A lunar eclipse, which causes the moon to look dark or dimmed, occurs when Earth is between the sun and moon and the three celestial objects line up in a row so that the moon passes into our planet’s shadow.

The snow moon will reach peak illumination Wednesday morning at 8:53 a.m. EST, according to earthsky.org. The moon will be below the horizon at this time, so the Almanac’s moon guide recommends looking for it on Tuesday or Wednesday night. The moon will peak above the horizon around sunset, and reach its highest point in the sky around midnight.

The full “snow moon” was captured setting behind a church steeple in picturesque Portsmouth, New Hampshire, on February 12. The full moon in February has been dubbed the snow moon due to the heavy snowfall typically seen this time of year,