by The next Full moon will happen on Sunday, October 9 at 4:55 am EDT (2055 GMT)but the moon will appear full the night before and after its zenith to the casual astrologer.
October’s Full Moon is also known as the Hunter’s Full Moon, so named as it coincided with the annual harvest of crops in the Northern Hemisphere. You can also see the full moon during the peak of the Draconid meteor shower. Jupiter and the moon also shine together during the October full moon.
The full moon shows its face to Earth about once a month. Well, sort of.
Most of the time, a full moon is not a perfectly full moon. We always see the same side of the moon, but part of it is in shadow, due to the moon’s rotation. Only when the moon, Earth and sun are perfectly aligned is the moon 100% full and this alignment causes a lunar eclipse.
And sometimes—once in a blue moon—the moon is full twice a month (or four times in a season, depending on your preferred definition).
You can prepare for the next full moon or eclipse with our guide on how to photograph a lunar eclipse, as well as how photographing the moon with a camera in general can help you make the most of the event. If you’re in need of imaging gear, consider our best astrophotography cameras and best astrophotography lenses to make sure you’re ready for the next eclipse.
If you’re looking for binoculars or a telescope to observe the moon, check out our guides to the best binoculars and the best telescopes.
Related: Night sky, September 2022: What you can see (opens in new tab)
When is the full moon? Calendar dates for 2022
This is when full moons will appear in 2022, according to NASA:
| Date | Name | US Eastern Time | GMT |
|---|---|---|---|
| January 17 | Wolf Moon | 6:48 pm | 23:48 |
| February 16 | Snow Moon | 11:57 am | 16:57 |
| March 18 | Worm Moon | 3:17 am | 07:17 |
| April 16 | Pink Moon | 2:55 pm | 18:55 |
| May 16 | Flower moon | 12:14 am | 04:14 |
| June 14 | Strawberry Moon | 7:52 am | 11:52 |
| July 13 | Back Moon | 2:37 pm | 18:37 |
| August 11 | Moon Sturgeon | 9:36 pm | 01:36 August 12 |
| September 10 | Harvest moon | 5:59 am | 09:59 |
| October 9 | The hunter’s moon | 4:55 p.m | 20:55 |
| November 8 | Beaver Moon | 6:02 am | 11:02 |
| December 7 | Cold Moon | 11:08 pm | 4:08 (December 8) |
2022 full moon names explained
Many cultures have given distinct names to the full moon each month. The names were applied to the entire month in which each appeared. The Farmer’s Almanac (opens in new tab) lists several names commonly used in the United States. There are some variations in the names of the moons, but in general, the same were used among the Algonquin tribes from New England west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names.
Other Native Americans had different names. In the book “This Day in North American Indian History (opens in new tab)” (Da Capo Press, 2002), author Phil Konstantin lists more than 50 indigenous peoples and their names for full moons. He also lists them on his website, AmericanIndian.net (opens in new tab).
Amateur astronomer Keith Cooley has a short list of other cultures’ moon names (opens in new tab)including the Chinese and Celtic, on his website.
Chinese Moon Names:
| Month | Name | Month | Name |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | Holiday moon | July | Hungry Ghost Moon |
| February | Nascent Moon | August | Harvest moon |
| March | Sleepy moon | September | Chrysanthemum Moon |
| April | Peony Moon | October | Kindly moon |
| May | Dragon Moon | November | White Moon |
| June | Lotus Moon | December | Bitter Moon |
Full moon names often correspond to seasonal markers, so the Harvest Moon occurs at the end of the growing season in September or October, and the Cold Moon occurs in frosty December. At least, that’s how it works in the northern hemisphere.
In the southern hemisphere, where the seasons change, the Harvest Moon occurs in March and the Cold Moon occurs in June. According to Earthsky.org (opens in new tab)these are common names for full moons south of the equator.
January: Hay Moon, Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, Mead Moon
February (midsummer): Grain Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Red Moon, Wyrt Moon, Corn Moon, Dog Moon, Barley Moon
March: Harvest Moon, Corn Moon
April: Harvest Moon, Hunter’s Moon, Blood Moon
May: Hunter’s Moon, Beaver Moon, Frost Moon
June: Oak Moon, Cold Moon, Long Night’s Moon
July: Wolf Moon, Old Moon, Ice Moon
August: Snow Moon, Storm Moon, Hunger Moon, Wolf Moon
September: Worm Moon, Lent Moon, Crow Moon, Sugar Moon, Chaste Moon, Sap Moon
October: Egg Moon, Fish Moon, Seed Moon, Pink Moon, Waking Moon
November: Corn Moon, Milk Moon, Flower Moon, Hare Moon
December: Strawberry Moon, Honey Moon, Rose Moon
The phases of the moon are explained with dates
The moon is a sphere that travels once around the Earth every 27.3 days. It also takes about 27 days for the moon to rotate on its axis. So the moon always shows us the same face. there is no single “dark side” of the moon. As the moon orbits the Earth, it is illuminated from various angles by the sun – what we see when we look at the moon is reflected sunlight. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, meaning it sometimes rises during daylight and other times at night.
There are four phases of the moon, new moon, first quarter moon, full moon and third quarter moon.
In the New Moonthe moon is located between the earth and the sun, so the side of the moon that faces us does not receive direct sunlight and is illuminated only by the faint sunlight reflected from the earth.
A few days later, as the moon moves around the Earth, the side we can see gradually becomes more illuminated by direct sunlight. This thin strip is called candle crescent.
A week after the new moon, the moon is 90 degrees from the sun in the sky and is half-illuminated from our vantage point—what we call first quarter because it is about a quarter of the way around the Earth.
A few days later, the lighting area continues to grow. More than half of the moon’s face appears to receive sunlight. This phase is called a white hair removal moon.
When the moon has moved 180 degrees from its position at new moon, the sun, Earth, and moon form a line. The moon’s disk is as close as it can be to being fully illuminated by the sun, hence its name Full moon.
The moon then moves until more than half of its face appears to receive sunlight, but the amount decreases. This is the waning phase of cleavage.
Days later, the moon has moved another quarter around Earth, at third quarter position. Sunlight is now shining on the other half of the visible face of the moon.
The moon then moves to waning crescent moon as less than half of his face appears to be receiving sunlight and the amount is decreasing.
Eventually, the moon returns to its own New Moon starting position. Because the moon’s orbit is not exactly in the same plane as the Earth’s orbit around the sun, they are rarely perfectly aligned. Usually the moon passes above or below the sun from our vantage point, but occasionally it passes directly in front of the sun and we have a solar eclipse.
Each full moon is calculated to appear at a precise time, which may or may not be close to the time the moon rises where you are. So when a full moon rises, it usually does so a few hours before or after the actual time it’s technically full, but a casual sky watcher won’t notice the difference. In fact, the moon will often look about the same on two consecutive nights around the full moon.
Lunar eclipses of 2022
Lunar eclipses are inextricably linked to the full moon.
When the moon is in its full phase, it passes behind the Earth with respect to the sun and can pass through the Earth’s shadow, creating a lunar eclipse. When the moon is completely inside the Earth’s shadow, we see a total lunar eclipse. In other cases, the moon passes only partially through the Earth’s shadow in what is known as a partial, or even penumbral, lunar eclipse (when the moon only crosses the outermost region of the Earth’s shadow).
In 2022, there are two lunar eclipses: A total lunar eclipse on May 16 and one total lunar eclipse on November 8.
The May 16 total lunar eclipse was visible across North and South America, Europe and Africa. It started at 9:32 p.m. EDT (0132 GMT) and lasted about 5 hours and 18 minutes, according to NASA’s Eclipse website (opens in new tab). The eclipse peaked at 12:12 AM. EDT (0412 on May 17 GMT).
The November 8 total lunar eclipse will be visible across Asia, Australia, the Pacific Ocean and the Americas. It will start at 3:02 am. EST (0802 GMT) and will last about 5 hours, 53 minutes, for a total duration of 1 hour and 24 minutes, according to NASA. It will peak at 6am. EST (1100 GMT).
Because the moon’s orbit around Earth is tilted, it doesn’t line up with Earth’s shadow every month, and we don’t have a lunar eclipse every month.
Solar eclipses of 2022
When the moon is in its “new” phase, it passes between the Earth and the sun, so the side facing the Earth appears dark.
Occasionally, the moon’s orbit aligns with the sun at such a distance that part or all of the sun can be blocked by the moon, as seen from Earth. When the moon completely blocks the sun’s disk, we see a total solar eclipse during the day, which can be an awe-inspiring site. Other times, the moon may only partially block the sun in a partial solar eclipse.
The moon can even create a “ring of fire” solar eclipse when it passes directly in front of the sun, but is at a point in its orbit that is too far from Earth to completely cover the solar disk. This leaves a ring, or “ring,” around the moon to create what’s called an annular solar eclipse.
There are two solar eclipses in 2022: a partial solar eclipse on April 30 and one partial solar eclipse on October 25th.
The April 30 partial solar eclipse was visible from parts of the southeastern Pacific Ocean and southern South America. It started at 2:45 p.m. EDT (1845 GMT) and ended at 6:37 p.m. EDT (2237 GMT), according to NASA’s solar eclipse page (opens in new tab).
The October 25 partial solar eclipse will be visible from parts of Europe, northeast Africa, the Middle East and western Asia. It will start at 4:58 am. EST (0858 GMT) and will end at 9:02 A.M. EST (1302 GMT).
