For some reason the human species feel they have to name
everything around them. And when they do, they seem to always
exaggerate, whether it is with the size, color or whatever, it
never seems to look natural to me.
Have you ever seen a Red Breasted Robin? I haven’t. Though I
have seen an Orange Breasted Robin. So how about a blue moon? I
have been viewing the Moon all my life and have yet to glance upon
one that was blue.
For some reason the human species feel they have to name everything around them. And when they do, they seem to always exaggerate, whether it is with the size, color or whatever, it never seems to look natural to me.
Have you ever seen a Red Breasted Robin? I haven’t. Though I have seen an Orange Breasted Robin. So how about a blue moon? I have been viewing the Moon all my life and have yet to glance upon one that was blue.
So the name “moon” or “satellite” just isn’t good enough for our Earth’s little partner – we need to give it more names. How about if we give the moon a different name for each month? Well, too late, that has already been done.
There are many traditional names for the full moons of each month of the year. It is doubtful they have much meaning in our society today, except for the “Harvest” and “Hunter’s” moons, and the more popular “blue moon,” which we have already figured out isn’t really blue.
So, for your interest only, or for those crossword puzzle enthusiast, here are the monthly full moon names: January: Old Moon, or Moon after Yule. (Yule is Christmas.) February: Snow Moon, Hunger Moon or Wolf Moon. March: Sap Moon, Crow Moon or Lenten Moon. April: Grass Moon, Egg Moon, Easter Moon or Paschal Moon. May: Planting Moon or Milk Moon. June: Rose Moon, Flower Moon or Strawberry Moon. July: Thunder Moon or Hay Moon. August: Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon. September: Fruit Moon or Harvest Moon. October: Hunter’s Moon. November: Frosty Moon or Beaver Moon, probably because beavers are active in preparation for winter. December: Moon before Yule, or Long Night Moon, a name appropriate because the midwinter night is long and the moon is above the horizon a long time.
Well, there you are. Very interesting for what it’s worth. Go out and spread the word. Maybe we need to give that a name to.
Constellation of the month: Aquarius
In the hot, dry countries of the Middle East, it is common to hear the calls of men going through the streets carrying bladders or jars full of cool water, which they will pour out for you into a cup. Aquarius is the Latin word for such a water seller. It is like aquarium, a water zoo, they come from aqua, the word for water.
In this constellation the man is quite thin, just a long line of three stars. His jar is a small triangle of stars with a fourth star in the middle. This is the one part that is easy to pick out. It lies on the equator of the sky. The water pouring from the jar is some fine lines of stars stretching south.
Have you had enough of Mars up to this point? Well don’t abandon Mars just yet, for this planet looms larger in the first half of October than it will at any time before the year 2018 and lies right in the middle of Aquarius. But if you are ready to move on to other celestial bodies in the sky, you don’t have to leave this area to do so.
Aquarius is full of interesting things to look at even with the naked eye, such as two of the best globular clusters around: M2 and M15. With a small telescope you can pick out two of the more interesting planetary nebulae: the Saturn Nebula and the very large Helix Nebula.
It is so amazing how much is out there to see. No matter where in the sky you happen to be looking there will always be something that will peak your interest.
On Sept. 19, I had the pleasure of entertaining Miss Carpenter’s class from the Tres Pinos School in my backyard viewing Mars and other celestial objects. I can’t believe how well behaved the children were. Well, Miss Carpenter and the parents weren’t bad either.
It is always interesting to hear the different responses from the children when they look into the eyepiece. Some get so excited and say, “Wow, that is unbelievable.” Then others are more like my family and just say “hmm” and walk away. We all seem to get out of it what we want.
Everyone had a good time, though no one had a better time than I did. My hats off to Miss Carpenter for a job well done. I couldn’t have been more pleased.
So if your dusty telescope is still locked away somewhere, now is the time to wipe it off, point it to the sky and see what you can see. There is more than just the planet Mars out there to look at. Don’t forget family and friends, when you do. You don’t have to worry about explaining what they are looking at, the sky is perfectly capable of speaking for itself. Clear skies.
October Sky Watch
Oct-10-Full Moon, known as the “Hunter’s Moon”
Oct-13-Moon is 3.2 degrees S.S.E. of the Pleiades
Oct-14-Moon is farthest away from Earth (Apogee-252,085 miles)
Oct-17-Moon is 4.9 degrees N. of Saturn
Oct-18-Epsilon Geminid meteor showers
Oct-18-Moon at last quarter
Oct-21-Orionid meteor showers
Oct-22-Moon 4 degrees N.N.E. of Jupiter
Oct-25-New Moon
Oct-26-Change clocks back, from Daylight-Saving Time to Standard Time.
Oct-26-Moon 0.08 degrees from Venus (Vary close)
Oct-26-Moon is closest to the Earth (Perigee-222,791 miles)
Oct-31-First quarter Moon
David Baumgartner is an amatuer astronomer. His column regularly appears in the Free Lance.
