Full moon trivia: 90 facts about the most beautiful sight in the sky!

Full moon happens every now and then. But have you ever considered how this happens and why?

The answer is listed below! So dive in the facts!

1. The full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth’s perspective
2. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon
3. Exactly, when the ecliptic longitudes of the Sun and Moon differ by 180°
4. This means that the lunar hemisphere facing Earth is completely sunlit
5. It appears as a circular disk
6. While the far side is dark
7. The full moon occurs once roughly every month
8. When the Moon moves into Earth’s shadow, a lunar eclipse occurs
9. During which all or part of the Moon’s face may appear reddish due to the Rayleigh scattering of blue wavelengths
10. And the refraction of sunlight through Earth’s atmosphere
11. Lunar eclipses happen only during full moon
12. And around points on its orbit where the satellite may pass through the planet’s shadow
13. A lunar eclipse does not occur every month
14. Because the Moon’s orbit is inclined 5.14°
15. With respect to the ecliptic plane of Earth
16. Thus, the Moon usually passes north or south of Earth’s shadow
17. Which is mostly restricted to this plane of reference
18. Lunar eclipses happen only when the full moon occurs around either node of its orbit
19. Therefore, a lunar eclipse occurs approximately every 6 months
20. And often 2 weeks before or after a solar eclipse
21. Which occurs during new moon around the opposite node
22. The interval period between a new or full moon and the next same phase averages about 29.53 days
23. It is called a synodic month
24. In those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the day of the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th day of the lunar month
25. Because a calendar month consists of a whole number of days
26. A lunar month may be either 29 or 30 days long
27. A full moon is often thought of as an event of a full night’s duration
28. This is somewhat misleading because its phase seen from Earth continuously waxes or wanes
29. Though much too slowly to notice in real time with the naked eye
30. Its maximum illumination occurs at the moment waxing has stopped
31. For any given location, about half of these maximum full moons may be visible
32. While the other half occurs during the day
33. When the full moon is below the horizon
34. Many almanacs list full moons not only by date
35. But also by their exact time
36. Usually in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC)
37. Typical monthly calendars that include lunar phases may be offset by one day when used in a different time zone
38. Full moon is generally a suboptimal time for astronomical observation of the Moon because shadows vanish
39. It is a poor time for other observations because the bright sunlight reflected by the Moon
40. Amplified by the opposition surge
41. Then outshines many stars
42. On 12 December 2008, the full moon occurred closer to the Earth than it had been at any time for the previous 15 years
43. This was called a supermoon
44. On 19 March 2011, another full supermoon occurred
45. Closer to the Earth than at any time for the previous 18 years
46. On 14 November 2016, a full supermoon occurred closer to the Earth than at any time for the previous 68 years
47. Full moons are traditionally associated with temporal insomnia
48. Which is the inability to sleep
49. Insanity, hence the terms lunacy and lunatic
50. And various “magical phenomena” such as lycanthropy
51. Psychologists, however, have found that there is no strong evidence for effects on human behavior around the time of a full moon
52. They find that studies are generally not consistent
53. With some showing a positive effect
54. And others showing a negative effect
55. In one instance, the 23 December 2000 issue of the British Medical Journal published two studies on dog bite admission to hospitals in England and Australia
56. The study of the Bradford Royal Infirmary found that dog bites were twice as common during a full moon
57. Whereas the study conducted by the public hospitals in Australia found that they were less likely
58. Historically, month names are names of moons in lunisolar calendars
59. Since the introduction of the solar Julian calendar in the Roman Empire
60. And later the Gregorian calendar worldwide
61. People no longer perceive month names as “moon” names
62. The traditional Old English month names were equated with the names of the Julian calendar from an early time
63. Soon after Christianization
64. According to the testimony of Bede ca. AD 700
65. Some full moons have developed new names in modern times
66. Lunar eclipses only happen during a full moon and often cast a seemingly reddish tint over the face of the moon
67. This has been called a blood moon in popular culture
68. The “harvest moon” and “hunter’s moon” are traditional terms for the full moons occurring during late summer and in the autumn
69. In the northern hemisphere usually in September and October respectively
70. The “harvest moon” is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox
71. Coming anywhere from two weeks before to two weeks after that date
72. The “hunter’s moon” is the full moon following it
73. The names are recorded from the early 18th century
74. The Oxford English Dictionary entry for “harvest moon” cites a 1706 reference
75. And for “hunter’s moon” a 1710 edition of The British Apollo
76. Where the term is attributed to “the country people”
77. The names became traditional in American folklore
78. Where they are now often popularly attributed to the Native Americans
79. The Feast of the Hunters’ Moon is a yearly festival in West Lafayette, Indiana
80. It is held in late September or early October each year since 1968
81. In 2010, the Harvest moon occurred on the night of equinox itself for the first time since 1991
82. All full moons rise around the time of sunset
83. Because the moon moves eastward among the stars faster than the sun its meridian passage is delayed
84. Causing it to rise later each day
85. On average by about 50.47 minutes
86. The harvest moon and hunter’s moon are unique because the time difference between moonrises on successive evenings is much shorter than average
87. The moon rises approximately 30 minutes later from one night to the next
88. This is because a full moon in September appears to move not straight east but north-east in the sky
89. Thus, there is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise for several days after the full moon
90. Thus lengthening the time in the evening when there is enough light for men to see to work to get the harvest in