When is the full moon?

A full Moon occurs at the halfway point in the lunar cycle, and is similar to a new Moon in that both have the sun, Moon, and Earth approximately aligned in a row. However, unlike the new Moon, the full Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth, so the entire sunlit part of the Moon is facing us. The shadowed portion of the Moon is entirely hidden from view. Similar to a new Moon, an exact alignment in this case would cause a lunar eclipse, where the earth completely blocks the Moon from sunlight. Just like a solar eclipse however, these events are rare. As a final note, the full Moon rises at sunset.