This weekend, skygazers across North America will have a rare double opportunity to witness the rise of the full Sturgeon Moon on two consecutive evenings.
The Moon will reach its peak fullness at 3:55 a.m. ET on Saturday, August 9. Because this peak occurs overnight, the moon will appear almost perfectly full on both Friday and Saturday evenings, providing two chances to see it emerge on the eastern horizon at dusk.
The ideal time to observe a full moon is just after sunset, when it is fully illuminated but the sky is still bathed in twilight, highlighting the landscape below. Typically, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. However, a unique celestial alignment in August shortens this gap for observers in the Northern Hemisphere.
This month, the full moon travels a low, shallow path across the southern sky. This trajectory reduces the time between consecutive moonrises to around 30 minutes. For example, in New York City on Friday, August 8, the moon will rise at 8:03 p.m. ET, just a minute after sunset. On Saturday, it will rise at 8:32 p.m. ET, 28 minutes after sunset. Viewers are encouraged to check local listings for precise moonrise times in their area.
While the full moon is a magnificent sight to the naked eye, using binoculars or a backyard telescope will reveal finer details of the lunar surface.
August’s full moon is named the Sturgeon Moon after the large fish that were once abundant in the Great Lakes at this time of year. According to the Center for Native American Studies, the Anishinaabeg people know it as the Wild Rice Moon. NASA also notes other traditional names, including the Green Corn Moon and the Grain Moon.
The next full moon, the Corn Moon, will rise on Sunday, September 8. It will coincide with a total lunar eclipse, turning the moon a reddish color, though this spectacle will only be visible from parts of Asia, Australia, and the Pacific Ocean.
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