August Night Sky

The Full Moon appearing this month is named after North America's largest fish - the sturgeon. Other names for this Full Moon include Green Corn Moon, Grain Moon, Barley Moon and Fruit Moon. 

The Sturgeon Moon has its origins in the great number of sturgeon that were once found in the lakes and rivers in North America.  It’s likely that with the arrival of European settlement the name was borrowed from native-American usage.  

I live close to Sturgeon Bay - named for the large number of sturgeon found here when settlers arrived.  Nowadays, over-fishing has just about eliminated this species from the Great Lakes.  Sigh.  The largest population of sturgeon in the world can be found in the Lake Winnebago waterway system not too far away.

August's full moon is special - as it features a partial lunar eclipse.  This occurs when the earth passes between the sun and the moon.  If you live in the norther hemisphere the earth's shadow is going to creep-across most (but not all) of the lunar surface beginning tomorrow night and into early Friday morning.  

During this event, the moon moves through the earth's umbra, the dark center of its shadow.  As the Sturgeon moon rises, later in the evening - 11:12 PM CST - the moon will dim and as the partial eclipse reaches its peak it will appear reddish-orange.  It will not technically be a full blood moon as there isn't totality; nevertheless, it should be worth staying-up to check it out.  It will last about 5 and a half hours.  Because you are not looking at the sun no special safety precautions are needed.

This will be the best lunar eclipse anywhere on earth until New Year's Eve 2028! 

Fingers-crossed for good viewing conditions for the next couple of evenings.