21 September 2005

Moonstruck

    There's a moon in the sky
    It's called the moon.
      The B-52's

That full moon we just had was the Harvest Moon, so named because its light afforded farmers a few more hours to harvest their crops. This year's was special because it was in the same place as it was 50 years ago when captured on film as the famous "Autumn Moon" by Ansel Adams. Astronomers figured out the precise time and date of the original image, then predicted it's return (the story).

The Harvest moon is not the only named moon. Most people know the Blue Moon, the uncommon second full moon of a calendar month. Actually, there are traditional English names for the full moon of every month. Native Americans had their own names, as did other cultures. Here's a list from the Farmer's Almanac (via Wikipedia).

MonthEnglishNative AmericanOther Names
JanuaryMoon After YuleWolf MoonOld Moon
FebruaryWolf MoonSnow MoonHunger Moon
MarchLenten MoonWorm MoonCrow Moon, Crust Moon, Sugar Moon, Sap Moon
AprilEgg MoonPink MoonSprouting Grass Moon, Fish Moon
MayMilk MoonFlower MoonCorn Planting Moon
JuneFlower MoonStrawberry MoonRose Moon, Hot Moon
JulyHay MoonBuck MoonThunder Moon
AugustGrain MoonSturgeon MoonRed Moon, Green Corn Moon
SeptemberFruit MoonHarvest MoonCorn Moon, Barley Moon
OctoberHarvest MoonHunter's MoonTravel Moon, Dying Grass Moon
NovemberHunter's MoonBeaver MoonFrost Moon
DecemberMoon Before YuleCold MoonLong Nights Moon

2 comments:

PapaGoose said...

What about Keith Moon?

I remember how Sesame Street had this obsession with the moon years ago. There are "moon songs" on a bunch of LittleGoose's videos.

I loved Space 1999. Wasn't the premise of that series that the moon was blown out of the Solar System when atomic waste stored there was accidentally ignited?

Sharon GR said...

No Smog Moon?