Non-fandom moment

[icarus]

I've decided fandom stuff right now just makes the non-Nimbus crowd nuts. So. Did you know...

Moon Rise Facts
The New Moon always rises at sunrise.
And the first quarter at noon.
The Full Moon always rises at sunset.
And the last quarter at midnight.

More Moon Facts
We've all heard about the harvest moon.

Didyou know the moon has names for the othereleven months. Here they are.
January: Wolf Moon
February: Ice or Snow Moon
March: Storm or Worm Moon
April: Growing or Pink Moon
May: Hare or Flower Moon
June: Mead or Strawberry Moon
July: Hay or Buck Moon
August: Corn or Sturgeon Moon
September: Harvest Moon
October: Blood or Hunter's Moon
November: Snow or Beaver Moon
December: Cold Moon

Comments

[isiscolo.livejournal.com]

Here's another moon fact for you. You know how something rare is described as happening "once in a blue moon?"

The lunar cycle is a little shorter than a calendar month, so most months have a single full moon. But every so often, the lunar cycle and the calendar line up such that a single month has two full moons. The second full moon in a month is called -- you guessed it -- the Blue Moon.

[goseaward.livejournal.com]

Damn, you got to it first. ;)

[mousapelli.livejournal.com]

Hence the name of the Anita Blake book where exactly that happens ;)

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Actually, I learned this a few years ago. We actually had a 'blue moon' (was it in 2000?) and it was all over the airwaves.

Icarus

[goseaward.livejournal.com]

The New Moon always rises at sunrise.
And the first quarter at noon.
The Full Moon always rises at sunset.
And the last quarter at midnight.

Know why? It's quite simple, really: Half of the moon always reflects the light of the Sun, so a new moon is when the moon is on the same side of us as the Sun and is thus up at the same time. When the moon is full, it's on the exact opposite side, and so it rises when the sun sets. (We went *over* and *over* and *over* this in astronomy...) Which also means that a lunar eclipse can only happen during a full moon, and a solar eclipse during a new moon. Which brings up the question: what happens to Remus if there's a lunar eclipse? *ponders*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh, thank you!

Icarus

[rushlight75.livejournal.com]

Interesting! A friend of mine has a book that lists the moons in lunar mythology by different names:

1st: Cold Moon
2nd: Quickening Moon
3rd: Storm Moon
4th: Wind Moon
5th: Flower Moon
6th: Strong Sun Moon
7th: Blessing Moon
8th: Corn Moon
9th: Harvest Moon
10th: Blood Moon
11th: Mourning Moon
12th: Long Nights Moon
13th: Blue Moon

Different mythology, I wonder?

Then again, I was doing research for a story a while back and came up with these:

Jan - ???
Feb - Sturgeon Moon
Mar - Crusted Snow Moon
Apr - Maple Sugar Moon
May - Budding Moon
Jun - Strawberry Moon
Jul - Half-Summer Moon
Aug - Blueberry Moon
Sep - ???
Oct - Shaking Hands Moon
Nov - ???
Dec - Night Moon

[salixbabylon.livejournal.com]

There's a lot of information at the Farmer's Almanac site (http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astronomy/moonnames.html).

And yes, the different sets of names come from different traditions - some are Native American Indian names, some are "British traditional" and some are "Norse". The different Wiccan groups use different ones, and sometimes mix and match, as I do, with what "feels right."

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

You know it's funny, I found this private webpage with all these interesting tidbits, including several different mythologies for the different months. But it's gone! I can't find it in google anymore. Should've bookmarked it.

Icarus

[mousapelli.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered why the other moons didn't have names. Wonder why we say 'Harvest Moon' and 'Strawberry Moon' but none of the others...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Even the Strawberry moon was a new one to me, actually. It's quite poetic, these names.

Icarus