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The August full moon arrives on Sunday (August 22), after passing near Jupiter.
The moon will be officially full at 8:02 am EDT (1202 GMT), according to NASA. For New York City watchers, the just-passed full moon will rise at 8:20 p.m. local time, or about 40 minutes after sunset that day.
A full moon occurs when the moon is exactly on the opposite side of the Earth from the sun – if you measured the angle of the sky between the sun and the moon, it would be 180 degrees. If the moon crosses the Earth’s shadow, we see a lunar eclipse, but this does not happen every month because the moon’s orbit is tilted about 5 degrees from the plane of the earth’s orbit, from so that the moon often “misses” the shadow.
Related: Jupiter is at its peak and peak this week
On August 22, just after midnight, the nearly full moon will appear near Jupiter, rising to about seven lunar diameters from the planet, or 3 degrees and 44 arc minutes, according to the In-the-Sky observation site. .org. The two bodies will be in conjunction – sharing the same celestial longitude – at 12:56 a.m. EDT. left (east) of the moon. The moon will be in the south, near its maximum altitude of about 31 degrees above the horizon. The moon officially becomes full a few hours later, but it will already be lying down at this point (the moonset is at 6:01 a.m. in New York).
As we move south, the conjunction will appear higher in the sky; of Miami, the conjunction will be approximately 46 degrees above the horizon. In the southern hemisphere, the nights are longer (because it is winter there) and the moon will appear even higher as a result. Starting in Buenos Aires, the full moon occurs at 9:01 a.m. on August 22 and rises on the evening of August 21 at 5:36 p.m. local time. The conjunction will take place at 1:56 a.m. on August 22, and the pair will be about 69 degrees high at 12:42 a.m.
Visible planets
On the night of the full moon, Venus, Mercury and Mars will all be “evening stars”. The three planets rise at 9:28 a.m., 7:51 a.m. and 7:33 a.m. EST on August 22 in New York City, respectively, according to calculations by Heavens-Above.com.
But only Venus will be easily observable; at 8 p.m., Mars will be only 4 degrees above the western horizon, and Mercury will only be about 5 degrees above sea level in New York. This makes them very difficult to see, and both planets will have set by 8:30 p.m., however, Venus is bright enough to stand out even in a sky that is still clear just after sunset. At an altitude of about 13 degrees around 8 p.m., the planet does not set until 9:13 p.m.
Other planets will rise – Jupiter will be near the moon, rising just in the east after sunset. Saturn will rise at 6:43 p.m. local time in New York City and will be in Capricorn. By the time the moon rises, it will be about 15 degrees above the southeast horizon, with Jupiter to its left.
Stars and constellations
Although the full moon tends to overwhelm fainter stars, asterisms such as the Summer Triangle – which consists of the stars Vega, Deneb, and Altair – will be prominent and easily spotted high in the east-south. is. About an hour and a half after sunset in the northern hemisphere, you can look almost straight to find Vega, which in northern mid-latitudes is at an elevation between 80 and 88 degrees (depending on distance north or south). that you are in the lower 48 states).
At around 9:30 p.m. local time at the northern mid-latitudes of the constellation Scorpio, Scorpio is visible in the south-southwest. Scorpius can be spotted by looking for Antares, a bright reddish star that marks the heart of the scorpion. To the left of Scorpius is the constellation Sagittarius, the archer, with its distinctive teapot shape, and above Scorpius is Ophiuchus, the healer and healer of snakes.
Ursa Major, the Big Dipper, will be in the northwest after sunset and following the “pointers” – the two stars in front of the Big Dipper bowl – towards Polaris, one can continue and hit the constellation in W shape Cassiopeia. Using the handle of the Dipper, you can “Arc to Arcturus” by sweeping along the handle until you reach the eponymous star of Boötes, the shepherd.
In the southern hemisphere, the sky is “upside down” and on August 22 at 9 p.m. local time at the latitude of Cape Town or Melbourne, we will see the full moon, Jupiter and Saturn forming a rough vertical line at east, with the moon below and Saturn above. Just west of them, to the right, we will see Piscis Austrinus, the southern fish, and the bright star Fomalhaut, known to be relatively close – only 25 light years away and the first star to have an exoplanet seen in light. visible. . Turning south, you can see Achernar, the brightest star in Eridan the river. High in the southwest, we can see the Southern Cross and just above, the Centaur, which houses Alpha Centauri.
How the Sturgeon Moon got its name
The August Full Moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, is sometimes known as the Sturgeon Moon. The name likely comes from the settlers and Algonquian-speaking people of northeastern North America, as sturgeon (a type of fish) is native to Europe and the Americas.
Not all of the indigenous nations in the region used the term. The Ojibwa, whose traditional territory is near the Great Lakes, called the eighth full moon of the year the Blackberry Moon, which could also occur in July. The Cree of Ontario called the August full moon the flying moon because that was the time when the young birds were flying. In the Pacific Northwest, the Haida called it the salmon moon (“chíin kungáay”), according to Dolly Garza’s book “Tlingit Moon & Tide.”
Related: Full moon names (and more) for 2021
In China and many surrounding countries, the August full moon marks the Hungry Ghost Festival. The Chinese calendar is lunisolar, and strictly speaking, the August full moon falls on the seventh month, Qiǎoyuè, or skill month. It is also called the ghost month. The festival is meant to honor spirits who have not received appropriate burials or offerings upon their death. People light paper lanterns and burn paper versions of earthly goods or (fake) money to honor the deceased.
The Maori counted the lunar months from new moon to new moon, so the August full moon is halfway through the month of Mahuru, which is around the latter part of the southern winter. The month is described as “The Earth has now acquired heat”.
In South Africa, the Zulus call the first full month of the year uNcwaba (the small c clicks in Zulu), and the name is derived from the description of a man who made “a new appearance” after a long journey when washing and anointing himself with fat; in the same vein, the Earth takes on a new appearance in spring.
Editor’s Note: If you take a great photo of the moon or lunar eclipse that you want to share with Space.com and our press partners for a potential story or gallery, send images and comments to editor Tariq Malik at spacephotos @ space.com.
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