Moons of the Year
As April’s full moon is overhead, let’s look at the cultural significance of moons and why we have moon phases at all!
Before colonization and calendars, Indigenous people used celestial bodies to track the flow of time throughout the year. Here in southwest Virginia, Cherokee tribes of the eastern band of the Cherokee Indians called this place home. The phases of the moon were used to show the passage of time over an approximate month. Each “year” there are approximately 12 full moons. Every tribe had different names for their moons. Take a look at the names they gave our moons- they’re based on seasonal phenomena!
January: Windy Moon
February: Hungry Moon
March: Strawberry/First leaves Moon
April: Duck/Bird Moon
May: Planting Moon
June: Sprouting Moon
July: Corn in Tassel Moon
August: End of Fruit Moon
September: Nut Moon
October: Harvest Moon
November: Hunter Moon
December: Snow Moon
To understand the moon and its cycle, we need to understand our solar system! Our Sun contains 99% of the available matter in our solar system. Having that much mass means that it has a large gravitational pull. When the sun first formed, leftover matter was trapped traveling around it. Some of that matter collided repeatedly, growing in size. At a certain point, it got its own gravity. Having gravity smoothed out its shape, and we got the planets! While the planets were forming, scientists hypothesize that a large asteroid slammed into Earth and knocked off a large chunk of material that later consolidated into our moon.
Lunar Orbit vs the Line of the Ecliptic
Because of the Sun’s gravitational pull, all the planets orbit around it in a single plane. Essentially, our solar system is flat! From Earth, all other planets, the Moon, the zodiac constellations, and the Sun, appear to rise in the east at night and set in the west. This is called the line of the ecliptic. The Moon isn’t perfectly matched up with the line of the ecliptic- it’s about 5 degrees off.
Just like the planets rotate on an axis and orbit around the sun, the moon rotates on its axis and orbits around the Earth. One popular moon myth is that there’s a “dark” side of the moon that humans never see. And to be fair, it’s partially true! Because the moon is tidally locked with the Earth, it rotates once with each orbit it completes. In other words, the same side always faces the Earth even if that side isn’t always dark.
It takes the Moon 27.3 earth days to complete one revolution, or orbit, around the Earth. This consistent cycle is what makes it such a good calendar! The cycle can even be broken down into smaller units, based on the eight major moon phases. These phases occur because the Moon cannot generate its own light, it reflects light from the sun. So its position relative to Earth and the Sun determines how much of the Moon’s surface is visible to us. As the moon orbits in a counter-clockwise direction around Earth, it will appear to grow for two weeks, and then appear to shrink for two weeks. These periods are called waxing and waning.
A new moon occurs when the moon is between the earth and the sun. That means that the moon and sun appear in the same place in the sky- during the day! We don’t get a solar eclipse every time this happens because of the tilt in the lunar orbit. As the moon grows, it reaches its first official phase, the waxing crescent. Next comes the waxing first quarter moon. It rises around noon and sets at midnight. First quarter may be accurate based on the moon’s cycle, but it feels wrong to call it that because it looks like half a moon! Lastly, we have the waxing gibbous. And then we’ve got a full moon, which rises in the east at sunset and sets in the west at dawn. It is opposite to the sun. It takes around 13.65 days for the moon to get through half its cycle. After the full moon, the moon shrinks to a waning gibbous, waning third quarter, waning crescent, and finally back to the new moon! The waning third quarter moon rises around midnight and sets at noon (opposite of the first quarter).
Upcoming Events
As the temperatures cool down, Blue Ridge Discovery Center isn’t slowing down! With darkness settling in sooner in the evenings, we are entering the prime season for stargazing. And with trees and shrubs losing their foliage, the winter months allow for fewer visual obstructions during birdwatching, including sighting rare wintering birds from the far north. There’s something for everyone over the coming months. Join us! Click event titles for more information.
Fall is quickly approaching bringing cooler weather, beautiful foliage, and outdoor activities! With darkness getting earlier, we are entering the prime season for stargazing. As trees and shrubs lose their foliage, fewer visual obstructions affect birdwatching, and the trails await new discoveries! There’s something for everyone over the coming months. Join us! Click event titles for more information.
Get Outside Hikes
Saturdays, now through October 30th
All ages!
Planting Day
Friday, October 1st, 9-4
Volunteer Weekend
Saturday, October 23rd - 24th , 10-4
New River Christmas Bird Count (hosted by BRDC)
Saturday, December 18th, 9:00-5:00
Burke’s Garden Birding Trip
February 5th, 8:00-5:00
All ages!
Great Backyard Bird Count
February 12th, 10:00-2:00
All ages!
Stars, Planets and More!
In keeping with the mission of BRDC to inspire curiosity and discovery, 12 students from Galax Middle school traveled to Winston Salem to visit the new Kaleideum North.
In keeping with the mission of BRDC to inspire curiosity and discovery, 12 students from Galax Middle school traveled to Winston Salem to visit the new Kaleideum North, formerly SciWorks. Kaleideum’s Planetarium was an excellent extension to the astronomy study for November. After viewing a show about stars and planets, they spent the remainder of the afternoon exploring the museum.
Physics, puzzles, natural history, health and music exhibits that filled the museum both entertained and challenged the students to think critically and explore hands-on. They ventured outside and viewed the otter and raccoon in their habitat and took turns whispering across a courtyard to see if they could be heard in the sound garden.
This was a great opportunity for the kids to get out of the classroom and expand their educational experience. Learning can be fun and it was evident in all our faces.
A Field Trip to SciWorks
Eight energized students from Galax Middle School joined BRDC staff for a day of exploration at SciWorks in Winston Salem, Saturday, November 12.
Eight energized students from Galax Middle School joined BRDC staff for a day of exploration at SciWorks in Winston Salem. We each took groups and headed in all directions to explore, discover and share the exciting exhibits found in the science center.
From physics to science to sound, they explored it all. We tested our skills with puzzles, clambered around objects and took a walk around the outdoor habitats.
A planetarium show: "Live Sky Tour" was the highlight of the day and coincided nicely with our lessons on astronomy for the month of November.
