Full Moon names: a year of stories in the sky.

See today’s Moon phase and the monthly calendar, with local event times and a hemisphere view.

The twelve names you are likely to see

This reference follows the familiar list presented by Royal Museums Greenwich ^[1]. Treat it as one naming convention, not a worldwide standard. The descriptive cues below are reminders of the names, not a forecast of local weather or wildlife.

Swipe or use the arrow keys to see all columns.

Harvest Moon and Hunter’s Moon follow a sequence

In the Northern Hemisphere convention, Harvest Moon is the full Moon nearest the autumnal equinoxequinox. That can put it in September or October. Hunter’s Moon follows it. These labels therefore need more care than a permanent “September equals Harvest” lookup.

NASA’s guide to full-Moon names ^[2] explains Harvest Moon alongside names based on other circumstances. A Blue MoonBlue Moon concerns calendar counting; a supermoon concerns distance; a Blood Moon concerns an eclipse. One event can acquire several labels, each answering a different question.

Does Strawberry Moon actually look pink?

The name alone tells you nothing about the colour in a photograph. Before interpreting a dramatic picture, check whether its caption identifies an eclipse, atmospheric conditions, an illustration or editing. “Strawberry” is not a scientific colour measurement.

The photograph above is licensed illustrative photography. It is not a prediction of the next named Moon or evidence of its colour.

What about the Southern Hemisphere?

A northern seasonal name can appear in a southern news headline, but the local season may be the opposite. June in New Zealand is not the northern strawberry-growing season. Our hemisphere guide separates the shared astronomical phase from local seasons and viewing orientation.

Avoid fixing this by simply shifting every name six months. That would create a new editorial list, not document an established local tradition. If a calendar matters to a community, identify the community and use its own account.

Are there names for individual nights too?

Yes, but that is a different question from naming the year’s full Moons. MaramatakaMaramataka includes named nights in Māori lunar calendars, with local variation. Our guide to selected named nights identifies the source tradition for its examples.

For a numerical “day 5” or “day 15”, start with lunar age and lunar days. A day number needs a counting rule; it is not another full-Moon nickname.

Sources

References in the text lead here. Original publications open in a new tab; this guide stays open.

• [1] Royal Museums Greenwich: full Moon names throughout the year (opens in a new tab) Back to text ↑.
• [2] NASA Space Place: supermoon, Blood Moon, Blue Moon and Harvest Moon (opens in a new tab) Back to text ↑.
• [3] NASA Space Place: why Earth’s hemispheres have opposite seasons (opens in a new tab).