2024-05-05 06:08:00
Earth’s only natural satellite, the moon, takes approximately 29 and a half days to complete its cyclecovering the four main phases: full moon, new moon, waxing moon and waning moon.
When the Earth is located between the sun and the moon, a full moon occurs, where the satellite reflects the sunlight in its entirety, reaching its maximum illumination.
Therefore, and taking into account that the moon takes 29 and a half days to complete the cycle again and become full again, the usual thing is that only one is produced full moon each month. But since a year has a total of 365 or 366 days, depending on whether it is a leap year or not, there are a total of 12.4 complete lunar cycles per year. That means that, each approximately two and a half and three yearsthere are 13 full moons a year, as was the case in 2023, which had two full moons in August: on the 1st and the 31st.
Lighting in half
Before being full, the moon goes through the crescent phase, characterized by having the right half illuminated in the northern hemisphere, adopting the ‘D’ shape in the northern hemisphere.
After the conclusion of the full moon, the moon enters the stage of waning or waning quarter, exhibiting the illuminated left side and acquiring the shape of a ‘C’.
This peculiarity leads to the statement that the moon is a liar: when it grows, it adopts the shape of ‘D’, the letter with which the verb ‘decrease’ and its adjective form ‘decreasing’ begins; while when decreasing, it presents the shape of ‘C’, the letter with which the verb ‘grow’ and its adjective variant ‘growing’ begins.
Phases
After being in the waning quarter, the moon becomes a new moon, also known as the new moon or interluon. This phase occurs when the moon is located exactly between the Earth and the sun, so that its illuminated hemisphere is not visible from our planet.
These are the lunar phases of this month and its Spanish peninsular schedule for the month of May, according to the National Geographic Institute, until the full moon is reached again on the 23rd, known as the flower moon or flower moon.
last of spring
This full moon will be the third and last of spring, since the next full moon will be on June 22, and the summer starts on June 20. The first full moon of spring, which took place on March 25, and coincided with a penumbral lunar eclipse.
The origin of the name full moons is due to the popular culture, since the names that the Native American tribes gave to each moon are usually used. Specifically, that of the month of May served to control the passage of the seasons and the arrival of each moment.
However, the names vary. Thus, others gave different names to this flower moon, such as mother moon -considering it a symbol of increased fertility-, the milk moon -as a symbol of the end of late frosts- or corn planting moon -for the flowering of plants-.
Huaiyue
On the other hand, in China the lunar months receive different names and, specifically, the full moon in May is called ‘Huaiyuè’ or moon of the month of the acacia.
In addition to the one on May 23, when what is known as flower moon or flower moon, There will be 7 more full moons this 2024, one for each month of the year. And each one with its name:
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