Week of March 20 – MOONS
March 20, 2011
“Super Moon:” The full moon of March 2011was 221,565 miles (356,575 kilometers) on Saturday, March 19 just 50 minutes after it hit its full phase, making it the biggest and brightest full moon since 1993. The “supermoon” phenomenon occurred because the moon was in its full phase and just 50 minutes past perigee – the point of its orbit that brings it closer to Earth.
The Wolf Moon: Named the wolf moon for the wolves that stalked early Indian villages looking for food during the winter months.
The Snow Moon: Named the snow moon due to the fact that the heaviest snow fall often falls during this month. Also called the hunger moon because food was often scarce during this time.
The Strawberry Moon: Dubbed the strawberry moon because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June.
The Buck Moon: July was called the buck moon because during this month is when you see the antlers of the deer push out from their foreheads.
Harvest Moon: This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon.
The Full Cold Moon: During December the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.
Blue Moon: A blue moon can refer to the third full moon in a season with four full moons. Most years have twelve full moons that occur approximately monthly. In addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each solar calendar year contains roughly eleven days more than the lunar year of 12 lunations. The extra days accumulate, so every two or three years (7 times in the 19-year Metonic cycle, there is an extra full moon. The term “blue moon” comes from folklore. Different traditions and conventions place the extra “blue” full moon at different times in the year.
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