Starting early this morning and tonight is November’s full Moon. An added bonus is that there was also a near-total eclipse of the Moon. The eclipse was supposed to be visible from most of North America.
November’s Moon is often, or usually, referred to as the Beaver Moon — because this is the time of year when beavers begin to take shelter in their lodges, having already laid up sufficient food for the long winter ahead. During the time of the fur trade in North America, it was also the season to trap beavers for their thick, winter-ready pelts.
For years, the monthly full Moons were given names tied to early Native American, Colonial American, and European folklore. I’ve noticed that some newspapers and Internet stories are referring to this month’s full Moon as a “Blood Moon.” Since (believe it or not) I wasn’t sure what a “Blood Moon” really was, I did some checking — not extensive research, but just checking.
This month’s eclipse is a near-total eclipse — the Moon will be 98% obscured during the eclipse, so technically it won’t be a total lunar eclipse, or a true Blood Moon. A total eclipse of the Moon is often called a “Blood Moon” because the Moon turns reddish when it’s completely submerged in the Earth’s shadow.
“Blood Moon” is not a technical term used in astronomy. It’s more of a popular phrase, maybe used because it sounds so dramatic. It simply refers to a “total lunar eclipse” — that’s all.
Actually, a fully-eclipsed Moon really becomes orange or coppery like a penny, not red like blood. So even though we don’t technically get a true Blood Moon, if the clouds got out of the way, it was still be a sight to behold if you got out about two in the morning.
An while we’re on the subject of the Moon…. the spin time of the Moon on its own axis is identical to the time it takes the Moon to evolve around the Earth, which is why the Moon always keep almost exactly the same face toward us.
And — if you’d like to know how much you’d weigh on the Moon, just multiply your weight by 0.165. You’d weight about 80 percent less than on Earth.
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