Full Moon August 2023: Sturgeon Moon
The giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most easily caught in August. Times convert to your time zone (showing UTC).
Peak fullness (showing UTC)
- Name
- Sturgeon Moon
- Distance
- 357,530 km
- Type
- Supermoon
About the Sturgeon Moon
The giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most easily caught in August.
The Green Corn Moon and Grain Moon reflect the ripening harvest. The Red Moon name comes from the reddish tint the moon takes on rising through summer haze.
The Perseid meteor shower peaks in mid-August; a bright Sturgeon Moon near the peak washes out fainter meteors, so check the moon phase before planning a night out.
Lore
The huge sturgeon of the Great Lakes were easiest to catch in August, and the moon took their name. The Grain Moon and Green Corn Moon mark the start of harvest, and the Red Moon describes the rising August moon seen through summer haze.
Trivia
- The Perseid meteor shower peaks around August 12, so the Sturgeon Moon's phase decides how good the show is.
- Lake sturgeon can live more than a century and grow over two metres long.
- Perigee full moons often cluster in late summer, so the Sturgeon Moon is frequently a supermoon.
Second full moon of the month (showing UTC)
- Name
- Blue Moon (Sturgeon Moon)
- Distance
- 357,344 km
- Type
- Supermoon
About the Blue Moon
A second full moon in one calendar month. It happens about every two and a half years and has nothing to do with color.
The monthly definition became popular after a 1946 Sky and Telescope article misread the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which used an older seasonal rule: the third full moon in a season that has four. Both definitions are in use today. The phrase "once in a blue moon" predates both and simply means rarely.
Because the calendar month decides it, a Blue Moon in one time zone can be an ordinary full moon in another when the full moon falls within hours of midnight on the first or last day of the month.
Lore
The phrase once in a blue moon is older than any astronomical definition and originally meant something absurd or never. The modern rule, a second full moon in one calendar month, spread from a 1946 magazine article and a 1980s radio programme. Genuinely blue-looking moons have been seen after huge volcanic eruptions and forest fires, when smoke particles scatter red light.
Trivia
- Monthly Blue Moons happen about every 2.7 years.
- The older seasonal rule calls the third full moon of a season with four the Blue Moon.
- After Krakatoa erupted in 1883 the Moon appeared blue or green for nearly two years.
All moon phases in August 2023
| Phase | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| Full Moon | |
| Last Quarter | |
| New Moon | |
| First Quarter | |
| Full Moon |
See the whole month day by day on the moon phases calendar for your city.