[AZ-Observing] Full Moon Names for 2005

> Full Moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern 
> and eastern United States. Those tribes of a few hundred
> years ago kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each 
> recurring full Moon.

> Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred. To be 
> sure, there were some variations in the Moon names, but
> in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from 
> New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers
> followed their own customs and created some of their own names.

> Since the lunar ("synodic") month is roughly 29.5 days in length on 
> average, the dates of the Full Moon shift from year to year.
> Below are all the Full Moon names for 2005, as well as the dates and times 
> (for the Eastern time zone).

> January 25, 5:32 a.m. EST -- The Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and 
> deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily
> outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the Moon 
> After Yule. In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most
> applied that name to the next moon.

> February 23, 11:54 p.m. EST -- The Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest 
> snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult,
> and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon.

> March 25, 3:58 p.m. EST -- The Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground 
> softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the
> return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow 
> Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter,
> or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing 
> by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking
> the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. This is also the 
> Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season.
> The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed 
> will be observed two days later on Sunday, March 27.

> April 24, 6:06 a.m. EDT -- The Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild 
> ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the
> spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, 
> and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the
> shad came upstream to spawn.

> May 23, 4:18 p.m. EDT -- The Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant 
> everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or
> the Milk Moon.
>
> June 22, 12:14 a.m. EDT -- The Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every 
> Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.

> July 21, 7:00 a.m. EDT -- The Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck 
> deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety
> fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being 
> now most frequent. Sometimes also called the Full Hay Moon.
> The Moon will also be at perigee later this day, at 4:00 p.m., at a 
> distance of 221,928 mi./357,158 km miles from Earth. Very high
> ocean tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full 
> Moon.

> August 19, 1:53 p.m. EDT -- The Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish 
> of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like
> Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full 
> Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through
> sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.

> September 17, 10:01 p.m. EDT -- The Full Harvest Moon. Traditionally, this 
> designation goes to the Full Moon that occurs closest to
> the Autumnal (Fall) Equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon 
> comes in September, but every third year it occurs in
> October. At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work into the night by 
> the light of this moon. Usually the full Moon rises an
> average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the 
> Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same
> time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 
> to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn,
> pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice -- the chief Indian staples -- are 
> now ready for gathering.

> October 17, 8:14 a.m. EDT -- The Full Hunter's Moon. With the leaves 
> falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the
> fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more 
> easily see the fox, also other animals, which have come out
> to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest. A 
> very minor (6.8% coverage) partial eclipse of the Moon
> will take place between 7:34 and 8:32 a.m. EDT and will be visible from 
> western and central sections of North America.

> November 15, 7:58 p.m. EST -- The Full Beaver Moon. Time to set beaver 
> traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm
> winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full 
> Moon come from the fact that the beavers are now active in
> their preparation for winter. Also called the Frosty Moon.

> December 15, 11:15 a.m. EST -- The Full Cold Moon; among some tribes, the 
> Full Long Nights Moon. In this month the winter cold
> fastens its grip, and the nights are at their longest and darkest. Also 
> sometimes called the Moon before Yule (Yule is Christmas,
> and this time the Moon is only just before it). The term Long Night Moon 
> is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is
> indeed long and the Moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter 
> full Moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it
> is opposite to the low Sun.

> *****************

> Article copied from Space.com
> http://www.space.com/spacewatch/full_moon_names_2005.html

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