What night is the night of the full moon if it happens at noon

[eccentric215]

pretty much what the topic says... What night is to be considered the full moon if it happens at noon pdt?

 

[silent thunder]

I'd say it's that day then and not the night, but what a fun question...

[Zhongyongdaoist]

Both nights are the 'night of the full moon', but after noon on that day the energies have shifted from the Moon 'increasing' or waxing as it is traditionally called and the Moon decreasing or waning. Generally speaking the Moon waxing is used for manifesting things or increasing things and the moon waning is used to getting rid of things or reducing them.

[nestentrie]

A 'full moon at noon' is not a full moon. What you're probably confusing it with is the New Moon. New Moons rise at the same time as the Sun and set at the same time as the Sun. The moon at this point is directly between the Earth and the Sun. It's illumed at this time not by direct sunlight but reflected rays from our Earth's atmosphere.

 

Each day beyond the 'New Moon' the moon rises later and later than the Sun and thus appears further away to the east of the sun. As this happens the moon starts to receive direct sunlight from the Sun. This is noticed by increasingly thicker and thicker bands of white on one side of the moon.

 

When the moon is full the light it's receiving from the sun covers the entire disc of the moon. This happens when the Sun, Earth and Moon make a straight line. Or another way of putting it, the Earth is now between the Sun and the Moon. If the Sun is illuminating the earth (that makes it daytime) on one side then the other side is in dark. Full Moons thus occur in night. (The Sun's rays are bending around the earth to illuminate the Moon).

 

Another thing... Full Moons are not region specific. If one night it is Full Moon in the UK, then as soon as enough time has passed for it to be night time in the US it is also a Full Moon for the US. You're only talking degrees of difference.

 

This of course happens in cycle. As the Moon approaches New Moon it is still rising further and further east of its location the previous Earth spin. So far east that when it rises (and the sun behind it in the east) it appears to be west of the Sun. Eventually, cue another New Moon.