If you have had a clear night sky this past weekend and have been looking up you may have noticed that the moon before it was even full has been looming large. The November full moon is the last of the season’s four Supermoons.
Likely you remember that Supermoons look larger because they are closer to Earth than the other full moons. That would be within the 90 percent range of its closest orbital point.
To see it at its full illumination, check it out at 4:29 p.m. EDT on Nov. 15, (2024). Of course, as usual, it will appear full the day before and the day after.
The November full moon is known as the “Beaver Moon” because that animal is beginning to move into the lodge it has constructed where it has stored food for the winter.
Other November full moon names refer to other animal activities and the weather in Native American lore such as the Digging and Deer Rutting Moon or the Frost or Freezing Moon.
October’s full moon, which is at full illumination on the 17th of the month, will be the year’s best Supermoon. It will look full Oct 16-19 and rise about the same time each night.
It will also appear brighter than past moons and its longer time lighting the sky has made it a good time for hunting but also a time to finish harvesting. BTW the October Moon is called the Hunter’s Moon. The September moon, a lunar cycle earlier was called the Harvest Moon.
“Super” as in Supermoon, is for what looks like its larger than usual size. That illusion is when its orbit, which is oval, brings it closer to Earth. That point is called its perigee. The Moon’s farthest point is its apogee
“Closer,” means 222,058 miles from Earth (357,367 kilometers). In comparison, September’s Supermoon on Sept. 18 was large but its perigee was 222,132 miles (357,486) from Earth.
Watch for the Hunter’s Moon on the horizon when the sun goes down but its peak illumination came already at 6:26 a.m., CT, Thursday.
Calling it a temporary, mini-moon, Earthsky says a tiny, 33 ft asteroid, will leave the Sun’s orbit to orbit around Earth for about two months until the Sun’s gravity pulls it back.
That’s the fun look-up news. The caveat is that this mini-moon asteroid will be so dim that earthlings will have a hard time seeing it.
On to September’s Full Moon which will be at full illumination at 10:34 p.m. ET on Sept.17. It will also appear full on Sept. 16-18 and rise at the same time each of those nights.
Called the “Harvest Moon,” the good news is that it is a Supermoon meaning it will appear larger than usual though it really isn’t. The apparent size is related to how close the Moon is to Earth.
The somewhat bad news is that the Earth, Moon and Sun will be in a line. Space, is saying to expect a partial eclipse because the Moon will partially be in Earth’s shadow. Go to Space Full Moon Eclipse to watch it.
According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the September Moon can also be called the “Corn Moon” depending on whether it comes closer to the Fall Equinox Sept. 22-23, than the October Moon.
The August full moon, called the Sturgeon Moon, falls on the 19th of this month. And it’s not just a full moon. It is a supermoon! Because its orbit brings it close to Earth it will loom larger that past moons in 2024 as it rises over the horizon. It is also a Blue Moon.
You likely won’t see it at its peak illumination at 1:26 p.m. Central Time when the sun is bright. Look for it rising in the southeastern sky after sunset. However, it will also appear to be full the evenings of Aug. 18 and Aug. 20.
It is also known as a Blue Moon because of its seasonal timeliness of four full moons in a season and not because of the other definition of two full moons in a month. August’s moon is third in the season between a solstice and the equinox.
It gets its name from the weird looking freshwater fish that are more plentiful this time of year in the Great Lakes. Among the best places to see and learn more about these lake sturgeon is the Public Museum in Grand Rapids, MI and the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, IL where they are in the Touch Pool.
They may also be listed in museums and aquariums as “living fossils” because their known discovered date is more than 130 million years ago.
As with other full moons, the August one also has Native American names including “Corn Moon” (Algonquin, Ojibwe) and Harvest Moon (Dakota).
BTW Even though the August moon is called a Supermoon, it will only look bigger but really won’t be larger.
Primarily known as the “Buck Moon” because male deer antlers are full grown, July’s full moon will be at peak illumination early morning July 21 (5:17 a.m. CT). But you will see it full at night on July 20 through July 22.
Other Native American July moon names also reflect animal behavior, nature and plants such as Salmon Moon, Berry Moon and Thunder Moon.
However, you don’t want a full moon if looking for the Delta Aquariids , often called Souther Aquariids from Comet 96P/Machholz when they fly overhead from July 18 to Aug. 21, 2024. They peak July 30 but are not numerous at 15 to 20 an hour and not bright. Also, they are more visible in the Southern Hemisphere and Southern US.
So be patient because the popular Perseids which zoom overhead late July to early September, will peak about Aug. 12 with more than 90 meteorites per hour.
If you noticed the moon looks brighter, closer and fuller even on June 19, two days before it’s full, you are right.
The June full moon will appear at 8:08 p.m. CT June 21, 2024 and will look extra-large because it is the lowest full moon we have seen in years. It’s just an illusion.
Also, because it is low it will appear more reddish orange due to the atmosphere and not because it is called the Strawberry Moon. That name recognizes the fruit that is often ripe about the same mid-June time. Other names are rose moon, honey moon, mead moon, berries ripen moon, planting moon and green corn moon.
After sunset, look southeast to see it rise over the horizon. For the time it rises locally see Full Moon Calculator.
In addition, the June moon is special this year because it happens at the same time as the summer solstice, when we in the northern hemisphere experience the longest day.
It may be hard to look up at May’s full moon when it appears on Thursday without thinking of the tragic, multi-nominated, award-winning movie produced and directed by Martin Scorsese and co-written by Eric Roth.
The movie is a true-crime drama. When oil was discovered on the Osage Nation property in Oklahoma during the Flower Moon festival in the 1920s it resulted in several Osage murders by people who wanted their oil rights and property.
As many readers of “Travel Smart with Jodie” know, the full-moon articles often note that the moon names come from different sources ranging from Native American tribes to European countries and reflect what is happening at that time in nature.
Other names are Budding Moon and Leaf Budding Moon (Cree), Planting Moon (Dakota and Lakota).
Except that moon names are annual, this year of 2024, it might also be called the cicada moon because at least in northern Illinois, the 17-year cicadas are just beginning to emerge.
No matter what you want to call the May moon it actually reaches full illumination at 9:53 a.m. EDT, the morning of May 23 but looks full on May 22 and will still look full on May 24. The Old Farmer’s Almanac tells when it is visible where you live on its Moonrise and Moonset Calculator.
Look for April’s full moon next week. Peak illumination will be 6:49 p.m. Central Time on Tuesday, April 23,2024. But even though it is named the Pink Moon, it won’t take on a rosy shade.
Moon names often reflect what is happening in nature so pink is for the color of the phlox blooms that usually show up in the eastern part of North America in April.
Called Phlox subulata, it is a creeping or spreading form of the wild flower also called moss phlox.
Other names for the April moon depend on when in the month it appears full and how close to Easter and Passover or weather changes it happens. So sometimes it is called the Paschal or Egg Moon or the Breaking Ice Moon, Budding Moon and Awakening Moon.
The moon will also look full April 22 and April 24 so if the sky is cloudy you can also capture its fullness the day before and after.
Called the “Worm Moon” because beetle larvae started emerging from tree bark as noted by Captain Jonathan Carver back in the 1760s when he visited the Naudowessie (Dakota) and other Native American tribes, the name did not refer to worms coming out of the ground as once supposed.
Some other names, also from Native American tribes, are Eagle Moon, Goose Moon (Algonquin, Cree), Sugar Moon (Ojiibwe) and the Wind Strong Moon (Pueblo).
But depending on when it comes, before or after the Spring Equinox, it is also called the Lenten or Paschal Full Moon. This year, the equinox was March 19, so it’s the Paschal Moon.
Whatever you want to think of the March’s full moon name, it will be rising early March 25 with peak illumination at 3 a.m. ET but it will appear full this Sunday night, March 24 beginning at sunset. To find the moon rise time in your area go to Almanac. It also will appear full March 26.
Special effects: “Moonbow” and “super illusion”
A Moonbow is similar to a rainbow because it is an arc caused by rain but happening at night with a little bit of moonlight and raindrops.
The full moon’s super illusion is how large it will appear when it is rising at the horizon. For more full moon information visit Old Farmer’s Almanac/Worm Moon, TimeandDate.
However, March 24-25 has another event so as the ads used to say, “But wait.”
EarthSky notes there is another kind of lunar eclipse, the penumbral lunar eclipse which will be happening so the moon may seem to be in a shadow. The moon eclipse happens with a full moon as the sun, Earth and moon are lined up with Earth is in the middle casting a shadow on the moon.
There are three types of lunar eclipses: Total, partial andpenumbral, the last of which is happening beginning Sunday.
Translated, that means the greatest part of the lunar eclipse, begun on March 24, will be at 2:12 a.m. CDT March 25 when nearly all of the moon will be inside the Earth’s outer penumbral shadow. Because it is not in Earth’s darker umbral shadow it will appear darkly shaded but not disappear.
Bright light flooded the bedroom and bath Friday, Feb.24, 2024 without turning on the switch.
It was, and will be for a couple of days, due to the Snow Moon that actually reaches full illumination at 7:30 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 25.
It appeared kind of small on Friday but that is because the February full moon is also a Micro full moon (as opposed to a Supermoon.
That means its apogee is farthest from Earth. In this case that is about 252,225 miles away.
It is called the Snow Moon because February, typically, though not in 2024 in which the Earth is experiencing climate change events, has more snow than the other months.
In the Chicago area, the first measurable snow fell Feb. 23 and covered the ground due to cold temps, through Feb. 24.
But the snow is disappearing Feb. 25 due to unusually high temps. However, look up and see the “Snow Moon” Sunday night.
