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August Sturgeon Moon: Don’t miss the fourth and final supermoon of the year
In China, August’s full Moon aligns with the beginning of the Hungry Ghost Festival. Here's the meaning behind the name, a brief history of the folklore, and the best viewing time.
A plane is silhouetted against full Sturgeon moon in Moscow, on 22 August 2021. Photo: AFP/Kirill Kudryavtsev
The fourth consecutive and final supermoon of 2022 takes place this week. It has, by far, the strangest names of any full moon – let’s unpack the meaning and the history.
Luckily for us in the southern hemisphere, the exact moment when the Sun and Moon are in syzygy (in conjunction), takes place during the darkest phase of the night.
Sturgeon Moon 2022
What is a Supermoon?
Tonight’s Sturgeon Moon is also a supermoon. This happens when a full moon coincides with a perigee – the point in the Moon’s orbit at which it is nearest to Earth.
At the closest point in its orbit around Earth, the moon will only be 359,828 km from our planet.
According to retired NASA engineer Fred Espanak, it can only be classified as a supermoon when it falls within 90% of its closest approach to Earth.
It’s not uncommon to have four of these lunar events within one year. In fact, we’ll have four consecutive full supermoons in 2024 as well.
When and how to view the supermoon
The moon will reach its closest point in orbit around the Earth at 3:36 am on Friday morning, 12 August. The timing works out perfectly for those of us viewing from the southern hemisphere.
You also won’t need any special equipment to view the full moon, your unaided eyes will serve you quite well – just look up!
According to Science Focus, the moon’s path will align with Saturn and Vesta (the brightest asteroid in the belt between Mars and Jupiter).
Why Sturgeon Moon?
It’s a strange name indeed – a sturgeon is a fish belonging to the Acipenseridae family, and it dates back to the late Cretaceous period.
The first fossils could be traced back approximately 136 million years. Due to caviar harvesting, the sturgeon – in the modern day – is on the brink of extinction.
But what does this have to do with a full moon in August? According to Farmer’s Almanac, August was typically the period when the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes (in Michigan) were caught.
Sturgeon Moon folklore
Since the names of full moons are based on Native American sources – and Sturgeon moon is an Algonquin reference – other names for August include:
- Corn Moon – as referred to by the Algonquin and Ojibwe tribes
- Harvest Moon – Dakota
- Ricing Moon – Anishinaabe
- Black Cherries Moon – Assiniboine
- Barley Moon, Grain Moon – Old English reference
- Swan Flight Moon – Inuit reference
- Mountain Shadows Moon – A Tlingit reference from the Pacific Northwest
In China, August’s full Moon aligns with the beginning of the Hungry Ghost Festival – a period during which “the ancestors are honoured and ghosts appeased”.
Next full moon
Don’t worry if you miss this one – we’ll do it all again next month on 10 September 2022 with the Harvest Moon.
Unfortunately, it will be a regular full moon; the supermoon phase is over for this year. The previous supermoons occurred in May, June and July.
