With the time change, it makes looking at the sky just after sunset a bit challenging. That means we will have to pick another time to finish observing Sagittarius, however, I didn’t include that Pluto has also been in the same constellation. I thought it was a star and was surprised to learn it was actually Pluto.
There’s always plenty to look up at in the night sky but this week, we’re going to learn about November’s full moon. You might recall from previous Look Ups, that Almanac.com gets full moon names from colonial times, native Americans and native people of Canada. Often the full moon names describe what’s going on when the seasons change while the alternative names sometimes describe what animals are doing during the change of the season. November’s is about animals and is called the Beaver Full Moon. It’s the time of year when many beavers start to hideaway in their shelters. In addition, when there was fur trading, it was the time to setup traps to get their thick, winter pelts. The moon will be full Friday but Almanac.com says you can start looking for it Thursday. Look for it in the southwest.
An alternative name for November’s full moon is Digging (or Scratching) Moon, to describe animals scavenging for nuts and green foliage, also bears digging winter dens. This name came from the Tlingit, indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of North America. While the Dakota and Lakota, native American people, called it the Deer Rutting Moon since it’s when deer search for mates.
The Algonquin, indigenous people of Eastern Canada, called it the Whitefish Moon because it was when the fish spawned. There are some alternative names that describe the change of the season, for instance, the Cree, North American indigenous people who primarily lived in Canada, called it the Frost Moon. Lastly, the Anishinaabe, indigenous peoples that live in the Great Lakes region of both Canada and the United States, called it the Freezing Moon, signifying that winter was on its way.
What’s especially exciting about this month’s full moon is that we’ll be treated to a lunar eclipse. This is when the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow creating a visible shadow on the moon. It’s considered a partial eclipse because it’s not entirely full but will almost be since it will just be 2% shy of being a full eclipse. The eclipse will begin 11:19pm, Thursday and will finish by 2:47am, Friday for those of us in San Mateo. It will reach the greatest eclipse at 1:04 a.m.
Look Up appears in the weekend edition. If you have any astronomical questions or facts you’d like to share email news@smdailyjournal.com with the subject line “Look Up.”
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
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Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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