EYES TO THE SKIES FOR AUGUST’S FULL MOON - THE “STURGEON” MOON! PLUS OTHER CELESTIAL TREATS! 💖🌕🔭🛰✨️ - 08/08/25
On the evening of the 8th into the morning of the 9th of August we will hopefully be treated to views of a beautiful full moon, weather permitting of course.
Although the full Moon may not be the astrophotographer's best of friends, the full Moon always makes for a beautiful sight in the night sky and is an important marker of the seasons for many people.
If you would like to know more about this month’s full moon, plus when and where to see the Sturgeon Moon, please read on…
WHAT IS A FULL MOON?
A full Moon occurs when its position in its orbit around Earth is at its furthest distance from the Sun (almost on the opposite side of the Earth compared to the Sun). This event, when the Earth stands almost directly between the Sun and Moon is also known as a Syzygy. When this happens, the side of the Moon that can be seen from Earth is completely illuminated, giving it the appearance of being full.
THE STURGEON MOON
The full moon of each month has been given names by many cultures and peoples throughout history. The most commonly known full moon names are derived from Native American tribes. The Native American tribes gave distinctions to moons based on the time of year and the weather’s relationships to crop harvests and appearance of certain animals.
According to the American Farmers Almanac, August’s full Moon was traditionally called the Sturgeon Moon because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this part of summer.
ALTERNATIVE MOON NAMES
Other names for the full moon of August describe the crops of this time of year. Corn Moon (Algonquin, Ojibwe), Harvest Moon (Dakota), and Ricing Moon (Anishinaabe) signify that this is the time to gather maturing crops. The Assiniboine people named this period Black Cherries Moon, referring to when chokecherries become ripe.
Flying Up Moon is a Cree term describing the time when young birds are finally ready to take the leap and learn to fly. The Tlingit people of the Pacific Northwest traditionally called this time of the season the Mountain Shadows Moon.
WHEN AND WHERE WILL THE FULL MOON OCCUR?
This month, the Moon will reach peak illumination when it is below the horizon at around 10:05 BST on the 9th of August. This means the night where the Moon will appear most full will be the night of the 8th into the morning of the 9th.
The Moon will rise on the night of the 8th at around 20:54 in the South-East. As the night progresses the Moon will climb in the sky travelling Southwards. The Moon will reach an altitude of almost 15 degrees at its highest point in the sky at roughly 01:00 on the morning of the 9th towards the South. Following this, the Moon will begin to descend travelling Westwards before setting in the morning skies at around 05:06 in the South West.
Remember that you don’t really need to know the exact time of peak illumination to enjoy viewing the full Moon, as the Moon will appear full throughout the night and on the nights surrounding the peak.
WHERE AMONG THE STARS CAN THE MOON BE FOUND?
On the night of the 10th our natural satellite will be hitching a ride in the zodiacal constellation of Capricornus the Sea Goat.
More specifically, the Moon can be found around 12 degrees below the star Albali of Aquarius, and roughly 4 degrees below the mid-way point between the stars Deneb Algedi and Dabih of Capricornus.
Capricornus can be found between the zodiacal constellations of Sagittarius and Aquarius, and below the prominent asterism the Summer Triangle.
LUNAR OBSERVATION
The great thing about observing the Moon is that we don’t have to go and find a particularly dark location to view it. As the Moon is such a bright object in the sky, we can view it from brighter locations, even from the centre of a heavily light polluted city. Weather permitting of course.
MOON RISE/SET – MOON ILLUSION
It's always lovely to watch the moon rise/set, so if you can head out to witness the Moon rise or set, please do. Every time the Moon rises and sets it takes on a beautiful golden, amber colour and appears larger at this time too, due to an optical illusion known as the ‘Moon illusion’. It's truly special to witness. As it rises and glides higher it’s colour will transition into a bright white.
Sometimes the Moon can appear even more orangey red than usual too! The hue of the moon typically depends on atmospheric conditions wherever you’re viewing it from. Things like clouds, dust, haze, smoke or pollution can cause the moon to appear different colours by scattering much of the blue light shining onto our natural satellite, leaving it with a more reddish tone.
OTHER CELESTIAL TREATS
There are a number of other celestial treats about at this moment in time too. Here is a small selection of celestial treats to look out for:
- We have a number of meteor showers active at this moment in time, including the prolific Perseid meteor shower. Although the full moon will drown out all but the brightest of these meteors, it is still worth keeping an eye out for those beautiful streaks of light known as shooting stars.
- The summer Milky Way is out in all its glory in our late evening/early morning skies. The moonlight during the full moon may make the Milky Way almost impossible to see by eye whilst producing so much light. However, the Milky Way is certainly something to look out for or try to capture images of at this time of year when the Moon is not brightening our skies.
- The asterism known as the Summer Triangle is a prominent asterism in our current night time skies and can help you find where to view our home galaxy the Milky Way. The brightest stars of the constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila – the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair respectively, create a huge triangle in the night sky known as the Summer Triangle. They are located in a bright section of the Milky Way known as the Cygnus region. The body of the swan Cygnus also creates a cross like shape known as the Northern Cross. If you follow the length of the cross and continue tracing along the direction of this line, this can show you where the rest of the Milky Way stretches across the sky.
- The great Hercules globular star cluster M13 in the constellation of Hercules is an awe-inspiring sight when viewed through binoculars or a telescope and is also visible to the naked eye under favourable conditions. The glow from this Summer time treat (created from a super dense concentration of stars) is fairly easy to see in our night time skies and we recommend you try to find it with your binoculars or telescope.
- Our closest galactical neighbour, the amazing Andromeda Galaxy can be spotted to the eye as a small, faint and fuzzy elliptical shape in the constellation of Andromeda.
- The radiant open star cluster the Pleaides (aka the Seven Sisters) can be found in the constellation of Taurus.
- We are now heading back into what many people consider the Aurora season! Due to the skies becoming darker, chances of viewing the Aurora are now much higher and the Aurora may now be seen dancing on our Northern horizons on nights of strong auroral activity. Typically the bright Moon tends to wash the aurora out, however occasionally there are displays that are so strong they are visible despite the moonlight.
This August is also a fairly good time to spot some bright planets…
- For the early birds or all night stargazers, the brilliantly bright planet Venus can currently be fairly easily seen shining brightly at an impressive magnitude of -3.96 towards the East in the early morning just before sunrise.
- The amazing ringed planet Saturn is now very easy to spot riding high in the night sky. Saturn can currently be observed in the constellation of Pisces just below the great square of Pegasus.
- The gas giant Jupiter is also now fairly easy to spot in the early morning skies. Look to the East during the early morning hours below and left of Venus and you will be able to spot the bright planet Jupiter.
GET A CLOSER LOOK
If you own a pair of binoculars or a telescope, you can get an even closer look at the Moon, stars and other celestial treats, revealing fantastic details. The Moon with its mares and craters, the planets and the radiant Andromeda Galaxy, Pleiades star cluster and the Hercules cluster are all amazing to view using binoculars or a telescope.
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE NIGHT SKY THROUGHOUT AUGUST?
If you would like to know more about the rest of the celestial treats that can be seen in the skies throughout August, please head to our YouTube channel to watch our Night Sky Guide video for August 2025.
CLOSING WORDS FROM ASTRO DOG
This month’s full Sturgeon Moon will be a beautiful sight, and with it being so low in the sky will make it an even more special occasion! So if you can, we recommend heading out to witness this August’s full Moon!
If you manage to capture any photographs of the full Moon, please feel free to share them on this post or tag Astro Dog. 😊
Good luck if you head out folks. Wrap up warm if you do. Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Clear skies 💖
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