When is full moon in Europe, Asia or America?

The answer is: “everywhere at the same time”. This refers to the so called Universal Time (UT) though, which is used for general astronomical events. We have already learnt that full moon is an astronomical event, where the moon, sun and the earth play a role by being in a specific position. So, full moon takes place at a specific time in the outer space. This point of time is specified by astronomers namely by the Universal Time.

The clou is, (almost) nobody has Universal Time on their wristwatch! We all have only the local time of our countries on the dial! This is why it sensible to say: full moon occurs at an identical Universal Time, but at different local times.

The time shifts of full moon need to be looked upon as always being equivalent to the time differences of the time zones. Here in Europe for example, the Central European Time (CET) or Central European Summer Time (CEST).

We have already converted our full moon calendar from Central European Time (CET) to Universal Time. If you would like to calculate the time of full moon in a different country, you have to simply deduct or add the time zone difference.

Therefore:
• West of Central Europe – deduct the respective time
• East of Central Europe – add the respective time

An example?
You would like to calculate the time of full moon in July 2004 in Los Angeles.

Step 1
You find out the current time zone difference between Europe and Los Angeles, e.g. online here:

www.zeitverschiebung.net/en/

Here you can see the example for Los Angeles: 9 hours difference.

Step 2
Take the time from our full moon calendar:
Friday, 2 July 2004, 01:08:54 pm
and deduct 9 hours, because Los Angeles lies in the west:
Friday, 2 July 2004, 04:08:54 am
This would mean, that full moon in Los Angeles takes place in the early morning hours, while it is midday for us.

Understood?

Photo: scaliger/bigstock.com