Moon Man

This year, a total lunar eclipse will occur with the full Moon on July 27. However, this eclipse won’t be visible from the U.S. or Canada. (The next total lunar eclipse visible in North America will occur in January 2019—not too far off!) For sky watch buffs, it may be interesting to know that this is the longest total lunar eclipse of the 21st century. From start to finish, the event will last four hours, with the totality lasting 1 hour and 43 minutes. You’ll hear some media outlets call this event the “Blood Moon” Eclipse. This is an increasingly popular name used for a total lunar eclipse, but is not an official, scientific term. Put simply, the fully-eclipsed Moon turns a red-orange, similar to a sunset color; with less direct sunlight hitting the Moon during the eclipse, you only see the reddish wave lengths. One of the more common names for this month’s Full Moon is the Thunder Moon, a tribute from the Algonquin to a time of year when spectacular electrical storms rake the northern forests. The Chinese deserve credit for an equally ominous name. The moon coincides with the Hungry Ghost Festival, a time when the living honor the dead by leaving food and drink to the ancestors. Their name? The Moon of the Hungry Ghosts. In medieval England, the moon had a more cheerful connotation. Crops were nearing harvest and if the fields were tall and healthy, the farmers went out to celebrate with their favorite drink, a fermented mixture of honey, malt, yeast and water (an acquired taste). Today farmers might call it The Beer Moon or the Buck Moon, but back then the growers knew it as the Mead Moon. 📸 : Old Farmers Almanac 📄 : Old Farmers Almanac and Moon Giant

The Full Strawberry Moon happens on June 27th in the US and June 28th in Europe. The colorful name is closely linked with the spread of warmer weather across the Northern Hemisphere and many Native American and First Nations peoples have special names for this full moon. The Algonquin tribes of what is now New England coined the nickname Full Strawberry Moon because the phase marked the best time of year to harvest the wild fruit. Similarly, the Cherokee of the southeastern woodlands knew the moon as the Green Corn Moon, the time of year when fresh corn ears grow best. The Tewa Pueblo of the desert southwest looked forward to the June rains and bestowed the title of “Moon when the leaves are dark green.” Across the Atlantic, the ancient Celts even jumped on the botanic theme. They called the June moon, the Oak Moon (all their Full Moons were named after trees). Of course, not everyone was thrilled for the warmer weather. The Wasco-Wishram tribe of Oregon were less enthusiastic in welcoming the June moon. They knew it as, “the-moon-when-fish-spoils-quickly-moon.” 📸 : Old Farmers Almanac 🗞️ : Moon Giant

We use Full Moon names that were used during Native American and Colonial times to help track the seasons. Depending on the tribe, May’s Full Moon was called the Full Flower Moon as well as Mother’s Moon, Milk Moon, and Corn Planting Moon. The May Moon marked a time of increasing fertility, with temperatures warm enough for safely bearing young, a near end to late frosts, and plants in bloom.

Full Moon April 2018 Spring is here and with the warmer weather it’s time to get out and Moon Gaze! April's Full Moon on April 29th in the US and April 30th for Europe marks the arrival of the Pink Moon. Named by some American Indian tribes for the little pink flowers called Wild Ground Phlox that appear in the meadows at this time of the year. For other Indian Tribes it was names for the time of the year the migratory birds start to move south such as “The Greg Goose Moon” and moon "When Geese Lay Eggs".