JACKSON, Wyo. — A full moon will rise over Jackson on Saturday, Aug. 9, reaching peak fullness in the wee hours.
August’s full moon has been referred to culturally as the Sturgeon Moon because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this part of summer, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Sturgeon fish have been present on earth as far back as 136 million years ago but are rare today due to overfishing in the 19th century, the Almanac noted.
The Nêhiyawak (Cree) call the August full moon the “Flying Up Moon,” which describes the time when young birds are finally ready to take the leap and learn to fly. Other names include the “Corn Moon” (Anishnabek, Ojibwe), the “Harvest Moon” (Dakota), the “Ricing Moon” (Anishinaabe) and the “Black Cherries Moon” (Assiniboine). The Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest traditionally called this time of the season the “Mountain Shadows Moon.”
According to Old Farmer’s Almanac, these names signify that this is the time to gather maturing crops or harvest wild fruits that have ripened.
Expect the moon to reach peak fullness at approximately 1:55 a.m. on Saturday. The brightness of the full moon might impede visibility for other celestial points of interest, including potential geomagnetic activity and the peaking Perseid meteor shower.
