When and where to see the Worm Moon 2027
The exact moment of full moon is Monday, March 22, 2027 at 6:44 AM in New York. The best night to watch is Sunday, March 21, when the Moon comes up at 6:36 PM, low in the east, about 32 minutes before sunset. It climbs to about 46° above the horizon around 12:39 AM and sets around sunrise the next morning.
A full moon looks full for about three nights. From New York the Moon is 97% lit when it rises the evening before and 100% the evening after, and on those nights it rises 73 minutes and 72 minutes later each evening. Those long gaps come from the steep angle of the Moon's path to the evening horizon at this time of year.
The Moon is at a declination of -3.7° this time, close to the celestial equator, so it rises near due east and sets near due west, up for about twelve hours. It sits in front of the stars of Virgo.
| City | Exact full moon (local time) |
|---|---|
| Los Angeles | Monday, March 22, 2027, 3:44 AM |
| New York | Monday, March 22, 2027, 6:44 AM |
| London | Monday, March 22, 2027, 10:44 AM |
| Berlin | Monday, March 22, 2027, 11:44 AM |
| New Delhi | Monday, March 22, 2027, 4:14 PM |
| Tokyo | Monday, March 22, 2027, 7:44 PM |
| Sydney | Monday, March 22, 2027, 9:44 PM |
Why is it called the Worm Moon?
The Worm Moon is the March full moon. The common explanation, used by the Old Farmer's Almanac, is that the ground thaws in March and earthworm casts start to appear, with the robins that feed on them. The almanac also notes an older source: in the 1760s the explorer Jonathan Carver, who spent time with the Dakota, wrote that this name referred to beetle larvae (the "worms") coming out of the bark of trees as the wood warmed.
March is a month of transition, so the names vary widely: some describe the last of winter, others the sap rising in the maples and the first birds returning.
Other names for the March full moon
The almanac names are one tradition among many. Native American peoples used hundreds of moon names that followed their own local seasons, and the attributions below are those given by the Old Farmer's Almanac:
- Crow Comes Back Moon: Northern Ojibwe
- Eagle Moon: Cree
- Goose Moon: Algonquin and Cree
- Sore Eyes Moon: Dakota and Lakota, from glare off the late snow
- Sugar Moon: Ojibwe, the maple sap season
- Lenten Moon: European Christian usage, the last full moon of winter
March in nature and the sky
March brings the spring equinox, after which days are longer than nights in the north. Maple sap runs on warm days that follow frosty nights, and the sugaring season is in full swing in New England and Quebec. Frogs start calling from the first ice-free ponds, and in Britain and Europe the daffodils and blackthorn blossom arrive.
Around the equinox the full moon rises almost exactly due east and sets due west, and it is up for about twelve hours, the same as the Sun.
Festivals on the Worm Moon 2027
Many of the world's calendars are lunar, so festivals around the globe fall on this same full moon. Dates below were checked against published calendars; where India and the US keep different dates, both are given.
Holi
Holika Dahan March 21, Holi March 22, 2027
The Hindu festival of colours follows the full moon of Phalguna: bonfires (Holika Dahan) on the evening of March 21, then the throwing of coloured powder on March 22.
Purim
Sunset March 22 to nightfall March 23, 2027
The Jewish festival of Purim falls on the 14th of Adar II in 2027 (a leap year), beginning just hours after the exact full moon.
Easter
Sunday March 28, 2027
This is the Paschal full moon: the first full moon after the March 20 equinox. Western Easter is the Sunday after it, so Easter 2027 is early, on March 28.
Medin Poya
March 22, 2027
Sri Lanka's March full moon holiday, remembering the Buddha's visit to his father after his enlightenment.
Supermoon, micromoon or neither?
The Worm Moon 2027 is 372,518 km from Earth, centre to centre. That is neither a supermoon (closer than 362,500 km) nor a micromoon (farther than 405,000 km); it appears 3.2% wider than a full moon at the average distance. Of the 12 full moons of 2027, it is the 4th closest. The biggest is the Wolf Moon at 357,635 km and the smallest the Buck Moon at 405,968 km.
The Worm Moon from the Southern Hemisphere
South of the equator March is early autumn, and the full moon nearest the March equinox is the Southern Hemisphere's Harvest Moon, rising only a little later each night for several evenings. The full moon happens at the same instant worldwide; in Sydney it is Monday, March 22, 2027 at 9:44 PM, and the Moon climbs to about 60° there that night, compared with 46° from New York. South of the equator the Moon also looks upside down to northern eyes, with the dark "Man in the Moon" features flipped.
Before and after the Worm Moon
More: All full moon names · Moon calendar 2027 · Next full moon · Moon phase today