Full Moons and their Common Names throughout the Year.

All photographs by Tony Fernandes 

The varied colors appear when the moon is seen or photographed through stratified and irregular gas layers of Earth's atmospheric blanket. Tiny air molecules in the layers scatter light that hits them, and their structure causes blue light to scatter more readily than red or orange. 

ONCE IN A BLUE MOON

When a second full moon occurs in a single calendar month, it is called a "Blue" moon because it is the 2nd of 2 full moons in a single calendar month. Hence the timeless phrase of yore where it is derived from - “once in a blue moon”- which is rare. As we all know full moons are separated by 29 days, while most months are 30 or 31 days long; so it is possible at times to fit two full moons in a single month. This happens every two and a half years or so.

January Full Moon is called Wolf Moon due to the howling of hungry wolves searching for food during midwinter. Other names for this month's full moon are Old Moon and Ice Moon.

February's Full moon was called Snow Moon by many Native American cultures due to the typically heavy snowfall that occurs during this time of year. Some North American tribes named it the Hunger Moon due to the scarce food sources and hard hunting conditions during mid-winter, while others named it the Storm Moon.

A Worm moon is in fact the traditional name for the March full moon, dating back to the medieval Europeans and Native American tribes who gave each month’s moon a different name, often reflecting the changes in nature. The Worm Moon gets its name from the earthworm which emerges in March. This is a sign of the end of winter and beginning of spring. The Worm Moon is  the last full moon of  winter. Also called as the Lenten Moon, refers to the Christian Lent period and Crow Moon, as the birds become more active after the winter, and the Sap or Sugar moon.

April full moon is known as the Pink Moon and the Paschal Moon.The paschal full moon is the ecclesiastical full moon of the northern spring and is used in the determination of the date of Easter. The name "paschal" is derived from "Pascha", a transliteration of the Aramaic word meaning Passover. It appears yellow because as the Moon's light travels a longer distance through the atmosphere, more of the shorter, bluer wavelengths of light are scattered away, leaving more of the longer, redder wavelengths. 

In folklore, the full moon in May is known as the Flower Moon because it occurs as spring blossoms in the Northern Hemisphere. The term was popularized by the Farmer's Almanac, which attributes it to the Algonquin people of North America.

June’s full Moon, typically the last full Moon of spring or the first of summer - is traditionally called the Strawberry Moon. This name has been used by Algonquin, Ojibwe, Dakota, and Lakota peoples, among others, to mark the ripening of strawberries that are ready to be gathered. As flowers bloom and early fruit ripens, June is a time of great abundance for strawberries that are ready to be gathered. As flowers bloom and early fruit ripens, June is a time of great abundance for many.  

A full Moon in July is called the Buck Moon because a buck’s antlers are in full growth mode at this time. This full Moon is also known as the Thunder Moon because thunderstorms are so frequent during this month.

The full Moon in August is 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.

September’s full moon is closest to the autumnal equinox. It is called the Harvest Moon, according to The Old Farmer's Almanac. Vice versa, when October's full moon is closer to the equinox, it gets the name Harvest Moon, and September's is called the Corn Moon.

According to popular belief and almanac reports, October’s full moon was named the Hunter's Moon because it signaled the time to go hunting in preparation for cold winter months. But the moon itself is simply the first full moon to follow the Harvest Moon, which is the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox for the Northern Hemisphere. The equinox is typically September 22 or 23. So most Harvest Moons come in September. But, every three years, the Harvest Moon falls in early October and the Hunter’s Moon in November.

November’s full moon is nicknamed the "Beaver Moon" as beavers in North America prepare their dens and stock up for the incoming of winter.

The coming of winter earned December's full moon the name Cold Moon. Other names include the Long Night moon and the Oak Moon.