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April - May - June Moon Phases
To help with night sky observing, moon phases for the next three months are shown below.
Just as some of us have nicknames, so does the moon. These nicknames were assigned to the moon by Native Americans and early Colonial Americans, and the names change with each passing month.
The Native Americans did not use a traditional Gregorian calendar that we have today, composed of 12 months for each year. Instead, they kept track of time by giving names to the full moon that they associated with the seasons. However, different Native American tribes gave the moon different names, resulting in the variety of different nicknames. To further complicate things, some tribes counted 4 seasons, some 5, and some as many as 13.
When the Colonial Americans came along, they adopted some of these nicknames, substituted their own nicknames to others, and applied them to the traditional Gregorian calendar we use today.
This newsletter covers April, May, and June, so let's look at some of the nicknames applied to the full moon during these months. Try to put yourself in the place of the Native Americans and early Colonial settlers and see if you can guess why some of these nicknames were used.
April is the month of the "Pink Moon." During April, a wild flower, call phlox, which is pinkish in color, is one of the first spring flowers that appear in the wild.
Other names include:
- Sprouting Grass Moon
- Egg Moon
- Fish Moon
May is the month of the "Flower Moon". During the month of April, wildflowers are springing up all over the country side, thus the name "Flower Moon."
Other names include:
- Corn Planting Moon
- Milk Moon
- Hare Moon
June is the month of the "Strawberry Moon". Our Colonial forefathers gathered strawberries during this month and aptly named the moon after the abundant fruit they gathered.
Other names include:
- Honey Moon
- Mead Moon
- Oak Moon
- Cold Moon
- Long Night Moon
- Rose Moon
- Hot Moon
Use this guide to help plan your observing session for the next three months.
April 2020 Moon Phases
May 2020 Moon Phases
June 2020 Moon Phases