Sturgeon Supermoon + Perseids Meteor Shower, Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter & Vega
A supermoon rises behind the Washington Monument, Sunday, June 23, 2013, in Washington. Credit: NASA/Bill Ingalls
The next full moon is a marginal supermoon and is called the Sturgeon Moon. It’s also known as the Green Corn Moon, the Raksha Bandhan Festival Moon, Nikini Poya, the end of the Esala Perahera Festival, and the Tu B’Av Holiday Moon.
The next full moon will be Thursday night, August 11, 2022, appearing opposite of the Sun in Earth-based longitude at 9:36 p.m. EDT (6:36 p.m. PDT). This will be on Friday morning for the time zones east of Cape Verde time, which includes Coordinated Universal Time (
One Moon, Many Names
Some of the most widely known and used names for full moons come from the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, which began publishing Native American names for the full moons in the 1930s. According to this almanac, the Algonquin tribes in what is now the northeastern United States called the full moon in August the Sturgeon Moon after the large fish that were more easily caught this time of year in the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water. This Moon was also known as the Green Corn Moon.
This full moon corresponds with the Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan, celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters. One of the traditions is for sisters of all ages to tie a rakhi (a cotton bracelet) around their brother’s wrist, receiving a gift from the brother in return, as a sign of the continuing bond between them. The term “Raksha Bandhan” translates as “the bond of protection, obligation, or care.”
In Sri Lanka, every full moon is a holiday. This full moon is called Nikini Poya, commemorating the first Buddhist council that occurred about 2,400 years ago, sometime around 400 BCE. In Kandy, Sri Lanka, this full moon corresponds with the end of the Esala Perahera festival, also known as the Festival of the Tooth. It is a two-week Buddhist festival held each year.
The Sturgeon Supermoon
Some publications consider this to be a supermoon, as it is the third closest full moon of the year. The term “supermoon” was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 as either a new or full moon that occurs when the Moon is within 90% of perigee, its closest approach to Earth. Since we can’t see new supermoons (except when…
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