May's flower moon lights up the sky around the globe

By Tommy Brooksbank

If you’re looking to watch something out of this world while quarantined at home, turn off the TV and look up at the sky.

2020's full flower moon is on display from the heavens above and the incredible lunar shots from around the globe might leave you starstruck.

A cloudy view of the Full Flower Supermoon over Quezon City, the last supermoon of a very unforgettable 2020. #FlowerMoon #Covid19Ph pic.twitter.com/IITBYuq06d

— Raffy Tima (@raffytima) May 7, 2020

Moonrise at #Stonehenge today (May 7th ) is at 20.51 and moonset is at 05.48 #FlowerMoon #Fullmoon #Moonphase #Supermoon pic.twitter.com/Van4kb0zdw

— Stonehenge U.K (@ST0NEHENGE) May 7, 2020

The beautiful Super Flower Moon setting at 6:35 this morning from Middleville, Michigan. 🌸🌕🚜@StormHour #supermoon #FlowerMoon #wmiwx #miwx pic.twitter.com/ko3mgyilHJ

— Stacey Anne Leeson (@StaceyALee) May 7, 2020

The moon appeared fullest at 6:45 a.m Thursday and will be visible until Friday morning.

NASA has termed the flower moon "super," but the Farmer's Almanac, a periodical known for publishing full moon dates and lore, has been careful to point out the celestial body's conditions don't quite meet a "super" threshold as the moon fell short of the distance needed this orbiting cycle and wasn't completely full when it was closest to Earth.

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Aaaaaoooo! We've got a full Moon coming! May's Flower Moon reaches its full phase on the 7th and despite what you may read over social media, this Moon won't be a #Supermoon by our calculations. A Supermoon occurrence is when the Moon reaches perigee (its closest point to Earth in its oval shaped orbit) near to its full phase. Moon at perigee comes today, May 5th—over 31 hours before it turns full. And when it does turn full on the 7th, it will be some 224,432 miles away from Earth. April's full Moon was 1,707 miles closer when it was in its full phase, and was our true "Supermoon" of 2020. If you want to read more about it, check out the link in our bio. Remember on the evening of the 7th, as you watch the sun set in the west, wait a bit, then turn around to see the glow of the full Moon rising in the east. It is always a spectacular sight! . . . . . #fullmoon #springtime #astronomy #flowermoon #plantingmoon #milkmoon #badmoonrising #farmersalmanac #moonphase #itsjustaphase #fullmoonsofinstagram #werewolves #satellite #tychocrater #mooncheese #followtherooster

A post shared by Farmers' Almanac (@farmersalmanac) on May 5, 2020 at 1:40pm PDT

Although not an official astronomical distinction, the term "supermoon" was initially coined to describe extreme full moon orbits only, a distance of 221,472 miles or less from Earth. May's flower moon is roughly 2,000 miles short of that, according to Farmer's Almanac, although the designation has been used to describe full moons that reach 90% of that distance in more recent times.

Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

May's full Moon, known as the Full Flower Moon and is the last supermoon of the year, sets behind the Statue of Liberty on May 7, 2020 in New York City.

The flower moon comes on the heels of April's supermoon, the biggest and brightest moon of 2020.

The Maine Farmer’s Almanac first published names for moons in the 1930s, attributing the terms to how Native American tribes tracked seasons. "Flower moon" was used for May given the abundance of flowers that bloom throughout the month in North America.

Normally there are 12 full moons in a year. Two will take place in October, with the second happening on Halloween to make for a spooky blue moon indeed.