The November full moon has several names. According to the Farmer's Almanac it is the Beaver Moon, the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze. The Old Farmer's Almanac agrees with Beaver moon. StarDate calls the November full moon the Frosty moon with no explanation except the obvious one.
Many more names are listed in the Wikipedia entry for the November full moon: Hunter's moon, Beaver moon, Frost moon, and Snow Moon. Calling the moon by its name makes one think more about the natural rhythm of the seasons.
This full moon was covered by thin clouds passing north at 11 pm on November 10th. The clouds around the moon reflected its light through the diffuse layers. It was a magical sight!
From the 2011 Old Farmer's Almanac, under the entry for October:
The month belongs to Jupiter, which rises at sunset in Aries, is near the moon on the 13th, and is closest to the earth on the 27th at a blazing magnitude -2.9. Appearing almost 50 arcseconds in width and looking wonderful through telescopes, Jupiter makes its closest visit until 2022. No other planet is worthwhile this month.
Last night, the moon and Jupiter put on a dramatic show playing hide and seek with fast-moving clouds headed north. October 13th was a dramatic weather day, indeed, with several tornadoes wreaking havoc in Virginia. This watercolor was painted about 10 pm facing east with occasional showers from the quick clouds.
According to the Farmer's Almanac, the full hunter's moon was an opportunity to hunt after the fields were harvested and before winter's cold arrived. Hunters could easily see nocturnal animals like foxes who emerged to glean the fallen grain.
Here's a portrait of the waxing gibbous moon from about 10 pm on Saturday October 8th. The moon shone high in the south almost as bright as the full moon t will be this week. With the lack of humidity, the sky is so clear and sharp as if the brightness is turned up a notch.
The waxing gibbous moon is on its way to full moon on Wednesday which is the Harvest Moon or the Hunter's Moon according to the Old Farmer's Almanac. More about that later this week.
