Hobbies And Interests
Derivation of Name
The "beaver" moniker of November's full moon is usually attributed to the Algonquin tribes of northern and eastern North America. There are two common interpretations. One is the suggestion that this season, just ahead of that region's fierce winter weather and the freeze-up of beaver swamps, is the time to trap enough of the big rodents to ensure a good supply of their warm pelts for protection from severe cold. Another related explanation is that the name refers to the vigorous activities of the beavers this time of year as they themselves prepare for the challenges of winter -- building up their own food supplies and further insulating their lodges.
Other Names
Other cultures, of course, have had their own special names for November's full moon. The Dakota of the Great Plains called it the "Moon When Horns Are Broken Off" or the "Moon When Deer Copulate," references to the beginning of the time of antler-dropping and of the rut, respectively, in northern deer. Their relatives the Lakota referred to it as the "Moon of the Falling Leaves," perceived perhaps in their traditional homeland in the cottonwoods and willows along Great Plains rivers. An Ojibwe name was "the Freezing-Up Moon," while the Osage called it the "Coon Breeding Moon."
Full Moon Facts
The beaver moon is huge, fat and bright in the sky because, like all full moons, it is wholly illuminated by sunlight with the Earth smack in the middle of sun and moon. Such a moon rises roughly at sunset and sets roughly at sunrise, taking over the skies as the sun sinks below the horizon and then yielding them again around dawn. In the 29.5 days of its lunar cycle, the moon, in relation to the Earth, shifts its phase -- from new moon to crescent to gibbous to full and back again -- based on the extent of its face luminous with reflected sunlight.
Other Sky Events
If risen on a clear night, the beaver moon dominates the sky for several days around its maximum. But there are other patterns of celestial objects visible to the terrestrial observer in the Northern Hemisphere. In the northwestern sky, the three stars of the Summer Triangle -- Deneb in the constellation Cygnus, Vega in Lyra and Altair in Aquila -- are low on the horizon, another sign of the warm-season's passing. Meanwhile, one of the great winter constellations Orion the Hunter with his star-belt rises in the northeast. The massive square of the winged-horse constellation, Pegasus, rules in the southwest.