By Emma Barhydt
This Halloween has a little extra magic to it, and not just for the reasons you think. October’s full moon is called the Hunter’s Blue Micro-moon. But what exactly does that mean?
As we know, a full moon is when the moon is at its peak, lighting up the night sky in all of its celestial beauty. Interestingly though, 2020 is the first year that we have seen a full moon on October 31 in the New York area since 1944. From now forward, a full moon on Halloween will return to happening once every 19 years.
This year’s Halloween full moon will rise at 10:49 a.m., guaranteeing visibility across all time zones.
For the full moon to be full on October 31, by necessity it must also be a blue moon since the full moon cycle only lasts for 29.5 days. The meaning of a blue moon that we’ll be talking about is pretty straight forward – it is when a full moon occurs twice in one month, then the second full moon of the month is dubbed a “blue moon.” While not actually blue in color, a blue moon is still a fun sight. A blue moon occurs once every two and a half to three years. The term Blue Moon has been around for well over 400 years, but its calendrical meaning has only become widespread in the last 25.
What is a Hunter’s Moon? The names for most of the full moons in a year typically relate to Native American legends; however, with two moons that is not the case. The Harvest Moon and the Hunter’s Moon are both dependent on the Autumnal Equinox. The Harvest Moon is the full moon that is closest to the Autumnal Equinox, and the Hunter’s Moon is the full moon following the Harvest Moon. The earliest use of the term “Hunters Moon” is from 1710. The Native American names for the October full moon are the Travel Moon and the Dying Grass moon, signifying that winter is imminent. The Hunters Moon gets its name from the need to prepare for winter by hunting and storing enough food to survive, and as with the Harvest Moon, at the beginning of the month the Hunter’s Moon rises right at Sunset, making it easier to continue hunting into the night time as there is more light.
A Mini-moon? Because the path that the moon orbits the Earth on isn’t perfectly circular, there are times when the moon is closer (super-moons) and farther away (micro-moons) to Earth than the moon’s typical distance. This full moon will be a Micro-moon because the moon is at its farthest apogee, or farthest point from Earth.
What does this mean for Halloween? Scientifically, it means that this Halloween will be full of light, a perfect Halloween for trick-or-treating, and fun. But if you’re superstitious, be sure to be extra careful on Halloween. While there’s not a whole lot of scientific basis for being superstitious regarding the moon, English etymology shows a long-standing shibboleth of fear towards the moon through words like lunacy and lunatic, although that dread isn’t shared by all cultures. In places like Rome, Greece, and India, the moon Goddess is shown primarily as the sister of the sun God. The Irish believed that it was good luck to view a full moon over your right shoulder, but bad luck to see it over your left.
The Moon can sometimes get a bad rap, but the truth is that there’s nothing to be worried about this Halloween aside from getting too sick to move from a candy overdose. Enjoy your Halloween night and be sure to look up at the sky!
