May's full 'Flower Moon' rises tonight: Here's what to expect from the 'micromoon'

The May full moon rises at sunset tonight! Here's what you need to know as the full "Flower Moon" takes to the spring sky on May 1 and when to look out for a rare "Blue Moon" later in the month. The moon will be 100% illuminated at 1:23 p.m. EDT (1723 GMT) on May 1 (local moonrise and moonset times depend on your location), as the lunar disk appears opposite the sun in our sky, fully lit by its rays. The May full moon is also known as the "Flower Moon" in reference to the plentiful blooms that appear around this time as the northern hemisphere slips deeper into spring. May's full moon will occur as the satellite is close to its most distant point from Earth in its near monthly elliptical orbit, giving rise to a "micromoon". Around this time, the moon may appear subtly smaller, while spanning 29.72 arcminutes — a unit used by astronomers to measure distances in the night sky — as opposed to its average size of around 31 arcminutes, according to the Las Cumbres Observatory . Head out at sunset to catch the lunar disk as it climbs lazily over the southeastern horizon. You may see the moon adopt a distinctive yellow-orange hue as it rises low in the sky, as the sunlight reflected off its surface is filtered through the densest part of Earth's atmosphere , in a process known as Rayleigh scattering. …