Night sky calendar

Supermoons, blood moons & beyond: The many faces of our natural satellite

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The moon isn’t just a pretty light in the night sky. Depending on when it appears, it has different names based on history, farming, and folklore. You probably know about the blue moon, but did you know there’s a "strawberry moon" and even a "wolf moon"? Let’s explore where these names come from and the stories behind them.

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January’s full moon is known as the Wolf Moon, and if that sounds like something straight out of a spooky winter night, you’re not far off. The name comes from old European and Native American traditions, where people noticed that wolves tended to howl more during the cold, food-scarce months. While we now know that wolves don’t actually howl at the moon (stop it, Hollywood), the name stuck.

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We know you’ve shoveled a driveway in February, so you understand why this full moon is called the Snow Moon. This chilly month often brings heavy snowfall across North America, earning the moon its frosty name.

Native American tribes and early settlers also called it the Storm Moon or the Hunger Moon, as food was often scarce in the dead of winter. The good news is that even though we don’t face the same hardships today, the Snow Moon signals that winter is coming to an end!

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You’ve probably heard the phrase "once in a blue moon," meaning something that happens rarely. Well, a Blue Moon isn’t actually blue (sorry to disappoint), but it is quite unusual.

The term dates back to the 16th century and has evolved over time, though its idiomatic meaning became widely popular in the 1940s. As for the event itself, it occurs when a single month has two full moons—something that happens only every two to three years.

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This full moon occurs in June, and even though it’s called the Strawberry Moon, don’t expect it to turn pink or red.

This moon gets its name from the Algonquin tribes, who saw it as a signal to harvest ripening strawberries. In Europe, it’s sometimes called the Rose Moon or the Honey Moon—just like the one you take when you get married! Either way, this moon marks the start of summer, long days, and warm nights. If you ask us, that’s a true honeymoon!

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In the past, farmers didn’t have tractor headlights, as you can imagine, so they relied on the Harvest Moon to work late into the night.

This full moon is the one closest to the September equinox, rising shortly after sunset for several nights in a row. This provided extra light for those gathering their summer crops. The name has been around for centuries and is still used today to mark the start of autumn.

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Following the Harvest Moon comes the Hunter’s Moon, the first full moon after the fall equinox.

This was the time when hunters took advantage of the bright night skies to track game and stock up on meat for winter. Like the Harvest Moon, it rises early and stays bright, making nighttime hunting easier. With both harvesting and hunting, the moon proved to be quite useful, huh?

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The Beaver Moon in November marks a time when beavers get serious about winter preparations (you didn’t think people were the only ones getting ready, did you?). Around this time, they begin building lodges and stocking food before the ponds freeze over.

Some say early settlers and Native American tribes named it this because it was also the best time to set beaver traps for warm fur. Nowadays? Well, that full moon in November is your cue to stock up on blankets for the couch!

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If winter ever feels like it lasts forever, you can blame it on the Long Night Moon. This full moon, the one closest to the winter solstice, appears when the nights are longest and the sun is at its weakest.

In Europe, it’s also called the Moon Before Yule, tying it to old winter solstice celebrations. Since this moon sits higher in the sky and lingers longer, it truly lives up to its name—even if we don’t like it one bit!

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A Blood Moon isn’t just a cool name (we say cool—you might say creepy); it’s a real celestial event! Luckily, it has no direct relation to blood—just the color.

This happens during a total lunar eclipse when the Earth blocks direct sunlight from reaching the moon. Instead, the only light that reaches the moon is filtered through Earth’s atmosphere, giving it a reddish glow. The more dust or pollution in the air, the redder it looks. Pretty fascinating, don’t you think?

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Ever notice that some full moons seem bigger and brighter than others? That’s a Supermoon! Yes, that is indeed a thing, and it happens when the full moon coincides with its closest point to Earth in its orbit, making it look a bit larger and a lot brighter.

The term was first used by astrologers in the 1970s but has since become a popular way to describe these extra-dazzling moons.

Everybody makes mistakes

No, "irregardless" is not a word: Terms often used incorrectly

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Surely, we’ve all made grammatical mistakes that still haunt us. But that doesn’t mean our eyes are safe from twitching when we hear words like "irregardless." A dozen popular mistakes have spread and infiltrated the vocabulary of many, much to the dismay of word lovers. Let’s explore some of these and hope we aren’t among the ones committing them!

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Careful: If you say you are nauseous, that means you are causing someone else nausea. You probably don’t mean that you stink, but that you are feeling sick yourself.

When stepping off a rollercoaster, you don’t feel nauseous: You might feel nauseated, which is the correct term.

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When did people start using "infamous" interchangeably with "famous"? It’s hard to know, but this mistake is heard often. Remember, "infamous" and "notorious" are adjectives that imply the subject has a bad reputation.

Maybe the confusion comes from "famous" being right there in the word, but keep in mind: infamous isn’t the kind of fame you want.

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If you’re bemused, you’re scratching your head, not laughing. "Bemused" gets thrown around as a fancier way to say "amused," but it actually means "confused" or "bewildered." One often isn’t bemused by a funny meme, but a complex set of instructions could leave you bemused.

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People often use "decimate" to mean "destroy entirely," but its original meaning is "reduce by one-tenth." It derives from a Roman practice of punishing armies.

For example, you could announce that a crop was decimated by pests but that some survived. The confusion is likely because "one-tenth" doesn’t sound dramatic enough. Ironically, modern misuse has decimated the word’s original meaning.

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Some people wrongly state that they have perused a magazine when what they did was flip through it lightly. To "peruse" means to read thoroughly and carefully.

You could peruse a contract document before signing it, for example. Remember, the verb shouldn’t be used as a fancy synonym for "skim."

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"Irregardless" gets thrown around, but it is an incorrect form of the word "regardless." Adding "ir-" to it makes it a nonstandard double negative. The word "regard-less" already means "without regard."

Why do people use the wrong form, then? Maybe inventing a prefix feels extra emphatic, but really, it’s like putting a hat on a hat.

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"Supposably" is often (and incorrectly) used instead of "supposedly." While the former does exist, it means "as could be imagined or believed". "Supposedly" means "according to what is assumed or believed".

So, which adverb should be used? It depends on whether the reality described is supposed to be true (supposedly) or possible to be true (supposably).

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Irony isn’t just a coincidence or bad luck; it’s when there’s a contradiction between expectation and reality. It would be ironic, for example, that a fire station should burn down.

If you simply ran into someone you know, however, that would not be ironic. It would simply be a funny coincidence.

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"Literally" means something is true exactly as is stated. It is often misused for exaggerations to add emphasis.

People have grown used to inserting that word into any hyperbolic sentence, such as "I’m literally dying of laughter". The word does have its correct place in some phrases, though. For example, you could literally trip over your own shoelaces.

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You cannot feel jealous of someone who enjoys something that you’ve never had. That’s because, strictly speaking, "jealousy" involves the fear of losing something.

"Envy" would be the correct term for referring to the desire to have what someone else does. For example, envying a gold medal when you only achieved the silver one.

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Sometimes students claim to be failing a class because they are "disinterested" in the subject, which is an incorrect statement. "Disinterested" means "impartial", or "unbiased". What they mean is that they are not interested, or "uninterested".

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"Affect" is a verb, meaning "to influence," while "effect" is a noun, meaning "a result." These two are spotted in the wrong sentence way too often. A speech can have an effect on an audience, but it cannot "effect" the audience. It can only "affect" it.

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The space between the words (or lack thereof) does affect the meaning! "Everyday" is an adjective meaning ordinary, while "every day" means "each day." Ask yourself carefully which of the two you are using.

Remember, every day we can find everyday words used incorrectly!