The Season’s First Planting Moontesttest The gibbous moon waxes
to full phase Monday, February 25. Early evening Thursday the
21st, the moon is between Castor and Pollux of Gemini to the
north and yellow-hued Procyon in Canis Minor to the south. The
Little Dog Procyon is the eighth-brightest star, with the
brightest star Sirius, the Big Dog, trailing 20 degrees to the
southwest. Seen from night to night against the backdrop of
stars, the moon shifts westward a dozen-plus degrees, toward
bright Regulus, the heart of Leo the Lion. As the sun sets
Sunday, the near-full moon rises in the west, and with the
deepening darkness, Regulus pops into view just a few degrees
north of the moon. Monday’s full moon is a little farther to the
west of Leo, but they are still quite close. In many Native
American cultures, February’s full moon was the Snow Moon and
the Hunger Moon, throwbacks to a day when February hosted more
wintery weather. Whether a result of global warming or of
Punxsutawney Phil not seeing his shadow, the