Two Full Moons in October 2020

 www.almanac.com/  Online article on Full Moon names and characteristic

The first of October’s full Moons rises on Thursday, October 1, 2020 reaching peak illumination at 5:06 P.M. Eastern Time (it won’t be visible until after sunset, however). October’s second full Moon rises on Halloween—Saturday, October 31—and hits peak illumination at 10:51 A.M. Eastern Time.

Want to know the exact time of moonrise in your location? Check out our Moonrise and Moonset Calculator.

Watch for the Full Harvest Moon

Being full Moons, both of these autumn Moons rise above the horizon around sunset. For several days around the time of the full Harvest Moon, the Moon rises only about 30 minutes later each night. This extra light early in the evening is what makes this time of year special, and traditionally is what gave farmers extra days for harvesting beyond sunset. Hence, the name “Harvest” Moon!

WHY IS IT CALLED THE HUNTER’S MOON?

Some folks believe that this full Moon was called the Full Hunter’s Moon because it signaled the time to go hunting in preparation for winter. Since the harvesters had recently reaped the fields under the Harvest Moon, hunters could easily see the fattened deer and other animals that had come out to glean (and the foxes and wolves that had come out to prey on them).

ABOUT OCTOBER MOON NAMES

The earliest use of the term “Hunter’s Moon” cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1710. Some sources suggest that other names for the Hunter’s Moon are the Sanguine or Blood Moon, either associated with the blood from with hunting or the turning of the leaves in autumn. 

Some Native American tribes, who tied the full Moon names to the season’s activities, called the full Moon the “Travel Moon” and the “Dying Grass Moon.”