On Monday night, a marginal supermoon that has been called both a Sturgeon Moon and a Blue Moon, will be visible across the world.
It’s full at 11:26 a.m. Pacific time, but will still be big and bright as night falls on the West Coast.
Its a “supermoon” because it’s full within 90% of the closest approach to Earth, which occurs two days later. It is also a Blue Moon, a term whose origin may be an old English phrase that means “betrayer Moon.”
The additional name “Sturgeon Moon” comes from the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, which credited the Algonquin tribes in the northeastern United States. They named this moon after the large fish that were more easily caught this time of year. It’s also called the “Green Corn Moon” for the first full moon after the last planted corn has ripened.
The Sturgeon Moon corresponds with the Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan, celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters. This full moon is also a Buddhist holiday, Nikini Poya, commemorating the first Buddhist council that occurred about 2,400 years ago, sometime around 400 BCE. In Kandy, Sri Lanka, this full moon corresponds with the end of the Esala Perahera festival, also known as the Festival of the Tooth, a two-week Buddhist festival held each year.
This year’s Sturgeon Moon can most easily be seen above the eastern horizon at moonrise, from the naked eye or with binoculars. Two minor meteor showers are also predicted to peak during this lunar cycle, both visible from the Northern Hemisphere in darker, less urban areas with clearer skies and less light pollution.
