Why this blue moon is also a ‘sturgeon moon’
- Full moon names come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American and European sources.
- It’ll also be a “blue” moon, meaning it’s the third of four full moons this season.
- Look toward the southeast sky after sunset to catch a glimpse of the sturgeon moon rising.
The next full moon will take place this weekend, and the August 2021 full moon will be both a “sturgeon moon” and a “blue moon.”
Although the moon will officially become full at 8:02 a.m. ET Sunday Aug. 22, it will still appear plenty large throughout both Saturday and Sunday nights.
On either of these nights, look toward the southeast sky after sunset to catch a glimpse of the sturgeon moon rising, the Old Farmer’s Almanac said.
Why is it called the sturgeon moon?
“August’s full moon was traditionally called the sturgeon moon because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this part of summer,” the Almanac said.
Sturgeon are a group of large fish that have been dubbed living fossils because they have remained almost unchanged for more than 100 million years, Newsweek said. Sturgeon were once found in great abundance, but their populations have declined greatly due to overfishing and habitat loss, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
The full moon names used by the Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American and European sources.
You don’t need any equipment to see the full moon, but a pair of binoculars will give you an incredible view of the moon’s surface, Travel + Leisure said.
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It’ll also be a “blue” moon: When there are four full moons in a single season (on this occasion, summer), the third is considered a blue moon. (As space.com notes, the second full moon of a month is another, more well-known, type of blue moon.)
It’s unlikely to appear blue, however: Blue-colored moons in photos are usually made using special blue camera filters or in a post-processing program such as Photoshop, according to Earthsky.org.
But there are rare occasions when a moon does take on a bluish hue, CNN reports. Smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, such as during a major volcanic eruption, can result in a blue-looking moon.
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