This month’s full moon has a name, and it’s about to disappear
· The South African
South Africans already know the details on this Friday’s deep partial lunar eclipse: the timing, the viewing tips, the science behind the red glow.
But one detail has slipped under the radar entirely.
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The full moon at the centre of it all actually has a name.
Why this particular full moon is called the Sturgeon Moon
Indigenous North American communities traditionally call this month’s full moon the Sturgeon Moon.
They noticed sturgeon fish were most plentiful in the Great Lakes region around this time of year.
Some also call it the Peace Moon. Either way, this exact full moon will spend the early hours of Friday, 28 August slipping into Earth’s shadow.
What makes this eclipse worth setting an alarm for
At its peak, at 06:12 SAST, roughly 96% of the Moon’s surface will sit inside Earth’s darkest shadow, deep enough that it’s part of a broader pattern astronomers track called a Saros cycle, essentially a family of eclipses that repeat on a predictable rhythm roughly every 18 years.
This particular one belongs to Saros series 138, a detail that means very little day-to-day, but adds a nice bit of cosmic context to what you’re actually watching unfold.
What to do if clouds ruin your view
If winter cloud cover gets in the way where you are, there’s a backup plan: international astronomy site timeanddate.com is running a live stream of the eclipse, meaning you won’t necessarily miss the moment even if your own sky doesn’t cooperate.
It’s actually quite something that a full moon most of us have never given a second thought to has its own name and its own quiet history, hey.
Makes Friday’s early wake-up feel a little more special. I for one, am very excited about this.
Had you ever heard of the Sturgeon Moon before today, or is this the first you’re hearing of it?
Let us know in the comments below, Mzansi…