Women’s Moon: What You Need to Know About August Full Moon 2023
Big, bright lunar displays will bookend August as the moon nears its closest point to Earth. When the moon reaches this position in its orbit while also appearing full, the result is a supermoon — and there will be two this month.
The first of the supermoons will peak at 2:32 p.m. ET on Tuesday, which means lunar gazers in Europe, the United Kingdom, Africa and the Middle East can catch the orb glowing at its fullest in the night sky at a distance of about 222,158 miles (357,530 kilometers) from Earth, according to calculations from retired NASA astronomer Fred Espenak.
For viewers in the United States, rest assured the moon will look round during the evening of August 1. Supermoons generally look brighter and bigger than other full moons because of their proximity, though it’s not always perceptible to the naked eye.
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).
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