Why tonight's supermoon is called a 'Full Buck Moon'
If skies are clear in your part of the world tonight, you鈥檒l be able to see something called a 鈥淔ull Buck Moon.鈥�
That鈥檚 a full moon rising and setting at the time of year when bucks 鈥� male deer 鈥� typically begin to grow their new antlers, starting with velvety bumps on their foreheads.
It鈥檚 the third of five 鈥渟upermoons鈥� in 2014 鈥� the two聽new moons聽of January, and the聽full moons聽of July, August, and September. Astronomers and astrologers define a supermoon as a new or full moon which occurs when the moon is at or near its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit 鈥� the moon鈥檚 perigee. ()
鈥淔ull moon聽names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States,鈥� explains SPACE.com Joe Rao. 鈥淭hose tribes of a few hundred years ago kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred.鈥�
The full moon names and dates for 2014 include: Full Wolf Moon Jan. 15, Full Snow Moon Feb. 14, Full Worm Moon Mar. 16, Full Pink Moon Apr. 15, Full Flower Moon May 14, Full Strawberry Moon June 13, Full Buck Moon July 12, Full Sturgeon Moon Aug. 10, Full Harvest Moon Sept. 8, Full Hunters鈥� Moon Oct. 8, Full Beaver Moon Nov. 6, and Full Cold Moon Dec. 6.
July鈥檚 full moon was also called 鈥淭hunder Moon鈥� because it occurred at the time of year when thunderstorms are frequent.
鈥淭ime is of the essence with this event, because the moon won't be in the sky for long each night,鈥� writes Sean Breslin for The Weather Channel. 鈥淭he Buck Moon will peak in the southern聽sky about 1 a.m.聽each night this weekend and will set less than 10 hours after it rises.鈥�
鈥淚f you live along an ocean coastline, watch for high tides caused by these full moons,鈥� notes earthsky.org, 鈥淲ill these high tides cause flooding? Probably not, unless a strong weather system accompanies the perigean spring tide. Still, keep an eye on the weather, because storms do have a large potential to accentuate perigean spring tides.鈥�
