Hunter’s Moon, October’s full moon, will hit peak Wednesday
Tribune News Service
The Full Blood Moon will peak at 10:57 a.m. ET Wednesday, Oct. 20, although the moon will appear full from Monday night through Thursday night.
Coming on the heels of last month’s Harvest Moon, it’s also known as the Hunter’s Moon. That name was used by some Native Americans to note this month’s full moon arrival post-harvest from the fields at a time when game animals like deer are at their peak of fattening up and humans needed to preserve as much food as possible for the approaching winter.
The Full Blood Moon moniker is applied in much the same sentiment, although some speculate that it also refers to the changing color of the leaves.
While Hunter’s Moon was included in the Oxford English Dictionary as early as 1710, the Native American names for the full moons around the year were first popularized by the Maine Farmer’s Almanac in the 1930s.
Other Native American names for the full moon of October include Dying Grass Moon, Sanguine Moon and Travel Moon.
This week’s full moon will suppress the view of all but the brightest meteors in the Orionid Meteor Shower, which will peak on the morning of Thursday, Oct. 21.
The shower is expected to blast about 20 extremely fast (up to 148,000 mph) meteors across the sky per hour at peak.
The Orionids travel at such speed because the Earth is hitting the stream of Halley’s Comet debris nearly head-on as it passes through it.
— Marcus Schneck of pennlive.com contributed to this report.
In June the strawberry full moon, the last supermoon of 2021, put on quite a show:
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The full moon rises near the southern end of Whidbey Island, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Washington state. The full moon in June is known as the "Strawberry Moon," and this year is the first full moon of summer. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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The full moon rises near the southern end of Whidbey Island, Thursday, June 24, 2021, in Washington state. The full moon in June is known as the "Strawberry Moon," and this year is the first full moon of summer. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
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The strawberry full moon rises behind the ancient marble temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, south of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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The strawberry full moon rises behind the ancient marble temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, south of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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The moon rises over the centerfield scoreboard during the eighth inning of a baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
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The moon rises over the centerfield scoreboard during the eighth inning of a baseball game between the Toronto Blue Jays and Baltimore Orioles in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Joshua Bessex)
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The strawberry full moon rises behind the ancient marble temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, south of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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The strawberry full moon rises behind the ancient marble temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, south of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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The strawberry full moon rises over Guadalquivir river as the Golden Tower is seen on the left, in Seville, Spain, Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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The strawberry full moon rises over Guadalquivir river as the Golden Tower is seen on the left, in Seville, Spain, Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Thanassis Stavrakis)
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A view of the moon is seen through the outfield scoreboard during the ninth inning of a baseball between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
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A view of the moon is seen through the outfield scoreboard during the ninth inning of a baseball between the Atlanta Braves and the Cincinnati Reds, Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Aaron Doster)
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The strawberry full moon rises behind the ancient marble temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, south of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
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The strawberry full moon rises behind the ancient marble temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion, south of Athens, Greece, on Thursday, June 24, 2021. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)
