August’s Full Sturgeon Moon and Celestial Happenings

As the days in the days get closer, we look at a last full moon of the summer – the Steurmaan. This full moon will enliven the sky on Saturday, August 9 at 3:55 am Est. The moon appears full of the night before and stays full until the night after.

Native Algonquin fish tribes are credited for naming this moon, because sturgeons – large, prehistoric fish of the big lakes – were easily caught in this month. Sturgeons were able to reach lengths of a maximum of 12 feet and were the key to the survival of the tribes.

Tribbling further south, this moon called the full red moon since the sultry haze of the summer would give the moon a red tint. This moon is also called the fruit moon, the grain moon and the green cornman, for maturing these foods during the approaching harvest season.

Persistent meteor show

A few days after the entire Steurmaan reaches its peak, the Perseid-Meteors will set up an incredible show, with their peak during the night hours of 12-13 August. In the very best circumstances, without cloud covering or light pollution – including natural light from the full moon – you can expect to shoot up to 100 meteors per hour over the air!

The best way to view the perseurs is to find a location that is free from as much light pollution as possible and to look up immediately. The meteors all come from a single location in the Perseus Constellation, called the radiant. Find Perseus, who is visible in the north of the northeastern sky, and follow the tails of the meteors.

Jupiter and Venus

In addition, look at the east just before sunrise on 11 and 12 August to catch a glimpse of Jupiter and Venus. These two planets are the brightest objects in the air, apart from the moon and will make their nearest approach to the earth.