August
Sturgeon Moon
Great-lake fishers once caught sturgeon in abundance.
Upcoming full moons
- Tuesday, August 17, 20277:28 AM
- Saturday, August 5, 20288:09 AM
- Friday, August 24, 20291:51 AM
Times are in Universal Time (UTC) until your time zone is detected.
Also called
Grain Moon · Red Moon
Origin of the name
On the American Great Lakes, August was the month when the sturgeon let itself be caught in abundance. An immense fish, nearly unchanged since the age of the dinosaurs, and an essential part of the stores of the peoples along the shores. Europe, at the same moment, was gathering in: grain moon, moon of the early harvests.
The story goes…
It was said that a sturgeon could live more than a century and outgrow two metres. The fishermen swore they had seen bigger still. It has grown rare, but its name stayed on the moon.
The almanac’s word
It was also called the red moon. In the heat hazes of August, the full moon rises copper-coloured over the horizon.