When Is August 2021’s Full Moon? Meaning of the Name Sturgeon Moon Explained

This month’s full moon is named the sturgeon moon, and there are just a few weeks to go earlier than it rises within the sky.

The sturgeon moon is about to achieve its peak brightness at 8:02 a.m. EDT on Sunday, August 22, in response to NASA, and it’ll seem full for round three days round that point.

The names given to every moon of the month are listed by the The Old Farmer’s Almanac, and are available from numerous conventional Native American, Colonial American, and European sources.

The identify “sturgeon moon” is a reference to a kind of fish. Sturgeons have been usually caught within the Great Lakes and in Lake Champlain presently of yr, in response to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

There are many various species of sturgeon. Some stay in freshwater lakes of North America, whereas others stay within the ocean and ascend rivers to spawn.

Sturgeons can develop to be very massive and specimens of as much as 26.2 ft lengthy have been noticed. Sturgeons that stay within the lakes of North America could weigh greater than 200 kilos.

The fish are presently listed as both threatened or endangered in 19 of the 20 U.S. states they inhabit as a result of overfishing has decimated their populations through the years. However, conservation efforts have seen populations starting to extend in recent times, in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

According to the Almanac, different names for the August full moon embody the corn moon, which has hyperlinks again to Algonquin and Ojibwe sources, and the harvest moon, a Dakota time period.

While skywatchers must wait just a few weeks to see the sturgeon moon, there are many night time sky sights to see earlier than then.

Some could have already got arrange their yard telescopes for a have a look at Saturn, which was at its closest and brightest from our perspective on Earth for the yr early on Monday morning EDT.

Gordon Johnston, a retired NASA govt who writes a month-to-month function on skywatching alternatives, mentioned these with a telescope and clear skies ought to have been in a position to see the rings of Saturn.

Another night time sky phenomenon this month is the Perseid meteor bathe, which has been energetic since mid-July. However, the bathe is predicted to achieve its peak exercise round August 12.

People ought to be capable of see meteors from this bathe in both the early morning earlier than or after this peak.

Afterwards, on August 19, Jupiter will seem at its closest and brightest for the yr from Earth, rising round sundown and setting round dawn in response to Johnston.

This presents these with a yard telescope and clear skies the chance to get a have a look at the photo voltaic system’s largest planet. The planet, together with 4 of its brilliant moons Ganymede, Callisto, Europa, and Io, ought to be seen.