Tonight, August's full Sturgeon Moon will appear in the night sky. Technically, the moon turns full at a specific time on August 3, which will be 11:59 a.m. ET. However, the moon will appear full to most observers for about a day either side of this moment.
In fact, photographers around the world took the opportunity over the weekend to capture some spectacular pictures of the almost-full moon. Full moons occur around once every 29.5 days when our natural satellite is located directly opposite the sun, with the Earth lying in the middle.
At these moments, the face of the moon is fully illuminated by our star, appearing like a perfect circle. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the full moon in August is often called the Sturgeon Moon.
Sturgeons are large, prehistoric-looking fish that date back to as far 136 million years. Found in rivers, lakes and coastlines across Eurasia and North America, they are often informally referred to as "living fossils" because they have undergone remarkably little evolutionary change.
August’s full moon has also been called the Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon, Fruit Moon, and Barley Moon, though none of them seem particularly relevant.
Why is it called the Full Sturgeon Moon?
It’s a name derived from a Native American tribe that used to track the seasons using the Moon. At this time of year the sturgeon fish, North America's largest lake fish, used to be caught in the Great Lakes, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac (it’s now critically endangered). The Full Green Corn Moon, Full Barley Moon, Wheat Cut Moon, Blueberry Moon, and Blackberry Moon are other names that have been given to August’s full moon by various tribes, again to indicate the harvest time for those crops. There are two chances to see the full moon at its most illuminated this month. Here are times for 10 cities around the world.
The Anishnaabe (Chippewa and Ojibwe) call it miini-giizis, the berry moon, while the Assiniboine of the northern plains named it capasapsaba, black cherries moon. The Lakota call it wasutoa wi, moon of the ripening, while the Sioux dubbed it cherries turn black.
Likewise the Tlingit have dubbed their August full moon sha-ha-yi, or berries ripe on mountain. Also in the fruit realm are the Wishram of the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon, who called it blackberry patches moon, and the Shawnee, with po'kamawi kiishthwa, or plum moon.
August Full Moon Names From Native American and Other Different Cultures Joyful Moon (Hopi). First Acorns (Pomo). Ripen moon (Dakota). Dispute Moon (Celtic). Cutter Moon (Abernaki). Dog Days moon (Yuchi). Corn Silk Moon (Ponca). Harvest Moon (Chinese). Berry Moon (Anishnaabe). Women's Moon (Choctaw). Mulberries Moon (Natchez). Middle moon (Potawatomi). Freshness Moon (Mohawk). Yelow flower moon (Osage). Blackberry Moon (Wishram). Acorns Ripen Moon (Maidu). Wheat Cut Moon (San Juan). Lightning Moon (Neo Pagan). Black Cherries Moon (Sioux). Yellow Leaves moon (Kiowa).
Edible Corn Moon (Algonquin). Young Ducks Fly Moon (Cree). Black Cherries Moon (Assiniboine). Dog Day's Moon (Colonial American). Autumn Moon (Taos Native American). Corn Moon, Wort Moon (Medieval English). Geese Shedding Feathers Moon (Arapaho). Feather Shedding Moon (Passamaquoddy). Dispute Moon (Full Janic), Harvest Moon (Dark Janic). Big Harvest moon, Heat Moon, Big Rippening Moon (Creek). Fruit Moon, Drying Moon, Last Fruit Moon, Grain Moon (Cherokee). Red Moon,Sturgeon Moon, Green Corn Moon, Dog Days Moon (Algonquin).
In fact, photographers around the world took the opportunity over the weekend to capture some spectacular pictures of the almost-full moon. Full moons occur around once every 29.5 days when our natural satellite is located directly opposite the sun, with the Earth lying in the middle.
At these moments, the face of the moon is fully illuminated by our star, appearing like a perfect circle. According to the Old Farmer's Almanac, the full moon in August is often called the Sturgeon Moon.
Sturgeons are large, prehistoric-looking fish that date back to as far 136 million years. Found in rivers, lakes and coastlines across Eurasia and North America, they are often informally referred to as "living fossils" because they have undergone remarkably little evolutionary change.
August’s full moon has also been called the Grain Moon, Green Corn Moon, Fruit Moon, and Barley Moon, though none of them seem particularly relevant.
Why is it called the Full Sturgeon Moon?
It’s a name derived from a Native American tribe that used to track the seasons using the Moon. At this time of year the sturgeon fish, North America's largest lake fish, used to be caught in the Great Lakes, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac (it’s now critically endangered). The Full Green Corn Moon, Full Barley Moon, Wheat Cut Moon, Blueberry Moon, and Blackberry Moon are other names that have been given to August’s full moon by various tribes, again to indicate the harvest time for those crops. There are two chances to see the full moon at its most illuminated this month. Here are times for 10 cities around the world.
The Anishnaabe (Chippewa and Ojibwe) call it miini-giizis, the berry moon, while the Assiniboine of the northern plains named it capasapsaba, black cherries moon. The Lakota call it wasutoa wi, moon of the ripening, while the Sioux dubbed it cherries turn black.
Likewise the Tlingit have dubbed their August full moon sha-ha-yi, or berries ripe on mountain. Also in the fruit realm are the Wishram of the Columbia River in Washington and Oregon, who called it blackberry patches moon, and the Shawnee, with po'kamawi kiishthwa, or plum moon.
August Full Moon Names From Native American and Other Different Cultures Joyful Moon (Hopi). First Acorns (Pomo). Ripen moon (Dakota). Dispute Moon (Celtic). Cutter Moon (Abernaki). Dog Days moon (Yuchi). Corn Silk Moon (Ponca). Harvest Moon (Chinese). Berry Moon (Anishnaabe). Women's Moon (Choctaw). Mulberries Moon (Natchez). Middle moon (Potawatomi). Freshness Moon (Mohawk). Yelow flower moon (Osage). Blackberry Moon (Wishram). Acorns Ripen Moon (Maidu). Wheat Cut Moon (San Juan). Lightning Moon (Neo Pagan). Black Cherries Moon (Sioux). Yellow Leaves moon (Kiowa).
Edible Corn Moon (Algonquin). Young Ducks Fly Moon (Cree). Black Cherries Moon (Assiniboine). Dog Day's Moon (Colonial American). Autumn Moon (Taos Native American). Corn Moon, Wort Moon (Medieval English). Geese Shedding Feathers Moon (Arapaho). Feather Shedding Moon (Passamaquoddy). Dispute Moon (Full Janic), Harvest Moon (Dark Janic). Big Harvest moon, Heat Moon, Big Rippening Moon (Creek). Fruit Moon, Drying Moon, Last Fruit Moon, Grain Moon (Cherokee). Red Moon,Sturgeon Moon, Green Corn Moon, Dog Days Moon (Algonquin).
Full Moon Tonight, Schoenberger! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/BfiaBbGlO5— Jim's the Man (@yesjimstheman) August 3, 2020
Tonight's full moon is known as The Full Sturgeon Moon, named after the freshwater fish, also known as the Barley, Fruit, and Grain Moon. https://t.co/p1CutbbR81 @WLWT #whilecincyslept pic.twitter.com/KEUIgZs4Re— Greg Rahe (@Hoosiernewshoun) August 3, 2020
It was brilliant this year. Love the update and history on it.