Full Moon Names for 2009
By Joe Rao
SPACE.com Skywatching Columnist
posted: 09 January 2009
11:23 am ET
Full moon names date back to Native Americans, of what is now the northern and eastern United States. Those tribes of a few hundred years ago kept track of the seasons by giving distinctive names to each recurring full moon. Their names were applied to the entire month in which each occurred.
There were some variations in the moon names, but in general the same ones were current throughout the Algonquin tribes from New England on west to Lake Superior. European settlers followed their own customs and created some of their own names. Here is a listing of all of the full moon names, as well as the dates and times for 2009. Unless otherwise noted, all times are for the Eastern Time Zone.
Jan. 10, 10:27 p.m. EST -- Full Wolf Moon. Amid the zero cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. It was also known as the Old Moon or the moon after Yule. In some tribes this was the Full Snow Moon; most applied that name to the next moon. The moon will also be at perigee (its closest point to Earth) on this day, at 6:00 a.m. EST, at a distance of 222,138mi. (357,497 km.) from Earth. Very high ocean tides can be expected from the coincidence of perigee with full moon.
Feb. 9, 9:49 a.m. EST -- Full Snow Moon. Usually the heaviest snows fall in this month. Hunting becomes very difficult, and hence to some tribes this was the Full Hunger Moon.
Mar. 10, 10:38 p.m. EDT -- Full Worm Moon. In this month the ground softens and the earthworm casts reappear, inviting the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signals the end of winter, or the Full Crust Moon because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation.
Apr. 9, 10:56 a.m. EDT -- Full Pink Moon. The grass pink or wild ground phlox is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names were the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and -- among coastal tribes -- the Full Fish Moon, when the shad came upstream to spawn. This is also the Paschal Full Moon; the first full Moon of the spring season. The first Sunday following the Paschal Moon is Easter Sunday, which indeed will be observed three days later on Sunday, April 12.
May 9, 12:01 a.m. EDT -- Full Flower Moon. Flowers are abundant everywhere. It was also known as the Full Corn Planting Moon or the Milk Moon.
Jun. 7, 2:12 p.m. EDT -- Full Strawberry Moon. Known to every Algonquin tribe. Europeans called it the Rose Moon.
Jul. 7, 5:21 a.m. EDT -- Full Buck Moon, when the new antlers of buck deer push out from their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, thunderstorms being now most frequent. Sometimes this is also called the Full Hay Moon. Since the moon arrives at apogee less than 13 hours later, this will also be smallest full moon of 2009. In terms of apparent size, it will appear 12-percent smaller than the full moon of Jan. 10
Aug. 5, 8:55 p.m. EDT -- Full Sturgeon Moon, when this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because the moon rises looking reddish through sultry haze, or the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.
Sep. 4, 12:03 a.m. EDT -- Full Corn Moon. Sometimes also called the Fruit Moon; such monikers were used for a full moon that occurs during the first week of September, so as to keep the Harvest Moon from coming too early in the calendar.
Oct. 4, 2:10 a.m. EDT -- Full Harvest Moon. Traditionally, this designation goes to the full moon that occurs closest to the Autumnal (fall) Equinox. The Harvest Moon usually comes in September, but sometimes it will fall in early October as is the case in 2009; the next time won't come until 2017. At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work into the night by the light of this moon. Usually the full moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice -- the chief Indian staples -- are now ready for gathering.
Nov. 2, 2:14 p.m. EST -- Full Beaver Moon. Now it is time to set beaver traps before the swamps freeze to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Beaver Full Moon come from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter. This is also called the Frosty Moon, and as this is also the next full moon after the Harvest Moon, it can also be referred to as the Hunters' Moon. With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can ride over the stubble, and can more easily see the fox, also other animals, which have come out to glean and can be caught for a thanksgiving banquet after the harvest.
Dec. 2, 2:30 a.m. EST -- Full Cold Moon. December is usually considered the month that the winter cold begins to fasten its grip.
Dec. 31, 2:13 p.m. EST -- Full Long Night Moon. Nights are at their longest and darkest. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long and the moon is above the horizon a long time. The midwinter full moon takes a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite to the low Sun. This is the second time the moon turns full in a calendar month, so it is also popularly known as a "Blue Moon." Full moons occur on average each 29.53 days (the length of the synodic month), or 12.3683 times per year; so months containing two full moons occur on average every 2.72 years, or every 2 years plus 8 or 9 months. There will be a partial lunar eclipse that will be visible from Europe, Africa and Asia with this full moon. At its maximum 7.6-percent of the moon's diameter will become immersed in the Earth's dark umbral shadow.
-wong chee tat :)
Monday, June 22, 2009
Local clusters of H1N1 transmission take measures to minimise spread of virus
Local clusters of H1N1 transmission take measures to minimise spread of virus
By Ng Lian Cheong/Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 21 June 2009 2139 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore's first two clusters of local H1N1 transmission have taken measures to minimise the spread of the virus.
The National University of Singapore which had three cases - all exchange students - said it is monitoring the situation closely.
The students are in stable condition, and close contacts placed on Home Quarantine Orders are doing well.
Riverlife Church - which had five cases - saw a relatively quieter Sunday service.
As a precaution, the church had asked those aged 18 and below not to attend services for now.
Those older must undergo mandatory temperature screening before entering the church.
City Harvest Church, which has about 27,000 members, said it spent some S$10,000 on sanitisers and 60,000 masks.
Derek Dunn, Executive Pastor of City Harvest Church, said: "Those (who) may be exposed to someone who may have contracted H1N1, we request that they do not come for the services and do the voluntary quarantine. We have 'live' streaming for all services; they can actually watch it at home from the Internet."
The Asian Youth Games organising committee said the infected Filipino football player is also in stable condition.
His team mates have tested negative for the virus. But they will remain quarantined until June 26.
The committee said no further tests will be done on the players, unless they develop flu-like symptoms.
- CNA/ms
- wong chee tat :)
By Ng Lian Cheong/Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 21 June 2009 2139 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore's first two clusters of local H1N1 transmission have taken measures to minimise the spread of the virus.
The National University of Singapore which had three cases - all exchange students - said it is monitoring the situation closely.
The students are in stable condition, and close contacts placed on Home Quarantine Orders are doing well.
Riverlife Church - which had five cases - saw a relatively quieter Sunday service.
As a precaution, the church had asked those aged 18 and below not to attend services for now.
Those older must undergo mandatory temperature screening before entering the church.
City Harvest Church, which has about 27,000 members, said it spent some S$10,000 on sanitisers and 60,000 masks.
Derek Dunn, Executive Pastor of City Harvest Church, said: "Those (who) may be exposed to someone who may have contracted H1N1, we request that they do not come for the services and do the voluntary quarantine. We have 'live' streaming for all services; they can actually watch it at home from the Internet."
The Asian Youth Games organising committee said the infected Filipino football player is also in stable condition.
His team mates have tested negative for the virus. But they will remain quarantined until June 26.
The committee said no further tests will be done on the players, unless they develop flu-like symptoms.
- CNA/ms
- wong chee tat :)
Schools to re-open as scheduled despite H1N1 situation
Schools to re-open as scheduled despite H1N1 situation
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 22 June 2009 1823 hrs
SINGAPORE: Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said schools will re-open and the Asian Youth Games and National Day celebrations will carry on.
But recently-returned students who have travelled to affected countries will stay at home for one week before joining their classmates when schools re-open on Monday.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) will provide more details soon, added Mr Khaw.
The health minister was speaking at a news conference on Monday to give an update on the latest developments on the Influenza A(H1N1)situation.
Mr Khaw said that overall, life must continue as normally as possible with targeted control measures.
One of them would be to close a school when a significant cluster is found so as to break the transmission or to isolate a competing team from other athletes as was done with the Filipino and the Hong Kong football players.
Mr Khaw also revealed that the scientific committee, chaired by the Director of Medical Services, is effectively evaluating the characteristics and the genome of the virus.
The committee has determined that the H1N1 virus in Singapore remains identical with that in North America.
Hence, the consensus view was that the virus remains moderate-risk and Singaporeans need not panic over the development that there is now community spread in the country.
Mr Khaw is confident that almost all infected cases will be able to recover fully and that Tamiflu and Relenza remain effective against the disease.
He, however, added: "But I thought I should explain that moderate risk does not mean no death. Just like the seasonal flu, there will be some deaths. That's why we need to target the high-risk patients, especially those with underlying medical conditions and to render the best chance of a full recovery. And that is why we need to allow our hospitals to be able to focus on the high-risk cases and not be distracted or overwhelmed by hundreds of mild cases."
Among those in the high risk include pregnant mothers, people with asthma, those on kidney dialysis or on chemotherapy.
The Health Ministry intends to advise these groups of patients with direct mailers of what they can do to protect themselves.
On its part, the Health Ministry is also gearing up all its polyclinics and a few hundred general practitioners to treat suspected H1N1 cases in Singapore.
Giving details of measures to tackle a wider community spread of the influenza, Mr Khaw explained that these will be called Pandemic Preparedness Clinics or PPCs and they can be recognised by their decal to handle walk-in suspect cases.
These clinics will only refer some categories of high-risk suspect patients to public hospitals.
Mr Khaw said the Health Ministry would publicise to Singaporeans where these clinics are so they know where to seek advice.
He explained: "When the local bio-surveillance data confirms significant community spread and we need to move from containment to full mitigation, we will signal to the public to use these PPCs instead of going to the hospitals if their flu conditions are mild. And this may happen over the next few days."
The Health Minister also revealed that the government would secure adequate supplies of the H1N1 vaccine for the population.
Besides the existing supply contract with the vaccine manufacturer, Mr Khaw said the ministry is also in active negotiations with other vaccine manufacturers. The aim is to diversify the supply of H1N1 vaccines.
Concluding, Mr Khaw said that last week has been eventful in the development of the outbreak in Singapore and the ministry expects this development.
That's because June would be challenging, given the large number of travellers returning from their holidays.
But the seven-week head start in battling the virus has been extremely useful, Mr Khaw said, to allow the government to gear up its system for the community spread phase of the outbreak.
His advice to Singaporeans: just carry on with your lives normally but keep up the high standard of personal hygiene.
- CNA/ir
- wong chee tat :)
By S Ramesh, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 22 June 2009 1823 hrs
SINGAPORE: Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has said schools will re-open and the Asian Youth Games and National Day celebrations will carry on.
But recently-returned students who have travelled to affected countries will stay at home for one week before joining their classmates when schools re-open on Monday.
The Ministry of Education (MOE) will provide more details soon, added Mr Khaw.
The health minister was speaking at a news conference on Monday to give an update on the latest developments on the Influenza A(H1N1)situation.
Mr Khaw said that overall, life must continue as normally as possible with targeted control measures.
One of them would be to close a school when a significant cluster is found so as to break the transmission or to isolate a competing team from other athletes as was done with the Filipino and the Hong Kong football players.
Mr Khaw also revealed that the scientific committee, chaired by the Director of Medical Services, is effectively evaluating the characteristics and the genome of the virus.
The committee has determined that the H1N1 virus in Singapore remains identical with that in North America.
Hence, the consensus view was that the virus remains moderate-risk and Singaporeans need not panic over the development that there is now community spread in the country.
Mr Khaw is confident that almost all infected cases will be able to recover fully and that Tamiflu and Relenza remain effective against the disease.
He, however, added: "But I thought I should explain that moderate risk does not mean no death. Just like the seasonal flu, there will be some deaths. That's why we need to target the high-risk patients, especially those with underlying medical conditions and to render the best chance of a full recovery. And that is why we need to allow our hospitals to be able to focus on the high-risk cases and not be distracted or overwhelmed by hundreds of mild cases."
Among those in the high risk include pregnant mothers, people with asthma, those on kidney dialysis or on chemotherapy.
The Health Ministry intends to advise these groups of patients with direct mailers of what they can do to protect themselves.
On its part, the Health Ministry is also gearing up all its polyclinics and a few hundred general practitioners to treat suspected H1N1 cases in Singapore.
Giving details of measures to tackle a wider community spread of the influenza, Mr Khaw explained that these will be called Pandemic Preparedness Clinics or PPCs and they can be recognised by their decal to handle walk-in suspect cases.
These clinics will only refer some categories of high-risk suspect patients to public hospitals.
Mr Khaw said the Health Ministry would publicise to Singaporeans where these clinics are so they know where to seek advice.
He explained: "When the local bio-surveillance data confirms significant community spread and we need to move from containment to full mitigation, we will signal to the public to use these PPCs instead of going to the hospitals if their flu conditions are mild. And this may happen over the next few days."
The Health Minister also revealed that the government would secure adequate supplies of the H1N1 vaccine for the population.
Besides the existing supply contract with the vaccine manufacturer, Mr Khaw said the ministry is also in active negotiations with other vaccine manufacturers. The aim is to diversify the supply of H1N1 vaccines.
Concluding, Mr Khaw said that last week has been eventful in the development of the outbreak in Singapore and the ministry expects this development.
That's because June would be challenging, given the large number of travellers returning from their holidays.
But the seven-week head start in battling the virus has been extremely useful, Mr Khaw said, to allow the government to gear up its system for the community spread phase of the outbreak.
His advice to Singaporeans: just carry on with your lives normally but keep up the high standard of personal hygiene.
- CNA/ir
- wong chee tat :)
Singapore changes tactics to battle H1N1 influenza
Singapore changes tactics to battle H1N1 influenza
Channel NewsAsia
Channel NewsAsia - Tuesday, June 23
SINGAPORE: Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has spelt out measures in the country’s tactics to battle the H1N1 virus as circumstances in the country change.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, he said as the numbers in the country escalate, agencies have to shift their resources to focus on detecting and treating infected cases, paying special attention to high—risk patients.
From now, there will be a shift from alert level of Yellow Containment to Yellow Mitigation, and Singaporeans can expect some adjustments in the next few days.
Firstly, Mr Khaw said the Health Ministry (MOH) will take a much more focused approach on contact tracing. Most of the contact tracing efforts thus far concern flight passengers who sit close to confirmed cases.
But with community spread, the likelihood of infection has now shifted to the local community, instead of only the plane cabin.
Mr Khaw said MOH has started to scale down such contact tracing and it would henceforth decide on a case—by—case basis, taking into account the medical condition of the infected patients while they were on board a flight.
The minister, however, stressed that isolating close family members of confirmed cases remains a useful control measure. Temperature screening is also effective as one in four of those detected were picked up by the scanners.
Secondly, the hospitals have ramped up their laboratory facilities, so they are all capable of testing and confirming H1N1 cases.
Thirdly, the government has geared up all the public hospitals to handle H1N1 cases.
Mr Khaw said the 993 ambulances have begun sending suspect patients to all public hospitals, not just to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
— CNA/so
- wong chee tat :)
Channel NewsAsia
Channel NewsAsia - Tuesday, June 23
SINGAPORE: Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan has spelt out measures in the country’s tactics to battle the H1N1 virus as circumstances in the country change.
Speaking at a news conference on Monday, he said as the numbers in the country escalate, agencies have to shift their resources to focus on detecting and treating infected cases, paying special attention to high—risk patients.
From now, there will be a shift from alert level of Yellow Containment to Yellow Mitigation, and Singaporeans can expect some adjustments in the next few days.
Firstly, Mr Khaw said the Health Ministry (MOH) will take a much more focused approach on contact tracing. Most of the contact tracing efforts thus far concern flight passengers who sit close to confirmed cases.
But with community spread, the likelihood of infection has now shifted to the local community, instead of only the plane cabin.
Mr Khaw said MOH has started to scale down such contact tracing and it would henceforth decide on a case—by—case basis, taking into account the medical condition of the infected patients while they were on board a flight.
The minister, however, stressed that isolating close family members of confirmed cases remains a useful control measure. Temperature screening is also effective as one in four of those detected were picked up by the scanners.
Secondly, the hospitals have ramped up their laboratory facilities, so they are all capable of testing and confirming H1N1 cases.
Thirdly, the government has geared up all the public hospitals to handle H1N1 cases.
Mr Khaw said the 993 ambulances have begun sending suspect patients to all public hospitals, not just to Tan Tock Seng Hospital and KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
— CNA/so
- wong chee tat :)
Singapore confirms two clusters of H1N1 local transmission
Singapore confirms two clusters of H1N1 local transmission
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 21 June 2009 0111 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore has confirmed another 23 cases of the H1N1 flu, bringing the total so far to 126.
Of the 23 new cases, eight are local cases from two clusters of local transmission.
The first is the Riverlife Church, which saw five students fall ill after attending its services on June 13 and 14.
One of them, a student at Chung Cheng High School (Main) was reported on Friday.
Four are new cases, including the student's younger brother. Another two are also students at Chung Cheng High School.
A second cluster was found at the National University of Singapore (NUS), which saw three students fall ill.
One of them was reported on Friday, while the other two had their infection confirmed on Saturday.
The two new cases are a 24-year-old Columbian woman and a 22-year-old American woman.
All three are foreign exchange students who had met up on June 13. They were with a group of other NUS schoolmates on an educational trip to Thailand from June 5 to 8.
There are also two new cases that have no confirmed links with previous patients.
One of them is the father of a boy who is a close contact of an earlier case.
The Ministry of Health is investigating if both infections are related.
The remaining 15 are all imported cases, including a 14-year-old Asian Youth Games participant from the Philippines.
He has been admitted to the Communicable Disease Centre, while his team-mates and two coaches are quarantined at the Aloha Resort at Loyang.
Singapore's total number of confirmed H1N1 cases now stands at 126, with 94 still in hospital. They are in stable condition.
Contact tracing is underway for all the cases.
- CNA /ls
- wong chee tat :)
By Hoe Yeen Nie, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 21 June 2009 0111 hrs
SINGAPORE : Singapore has confirmed another 23 cases of the H1N1 flu, bringing the total so far to 126.
Of the 23 new cases, eight are local cases from two clusters of local transmission.
The first is the Riverlife Church, which saw five students fall ill after attending its services on June 13 and 14.
One of them, a student at Chung Cheng High School (Main) was reported on Friday.
Four are new cases, including the student's younger brother. Another two are also students at Chung Cheng High School.
A second cluster was found at the National University of Singapore (NUS), which saw three students fall ill.
One of them was reported on Friday, while the other two had their infection confirmed on Saturday.
The two new cases are a 24-year-old Columbian woman and a 22-year-old American woman.
All three are foreign exchange students who had met up on June 13. They were with a group of other NUS schoolmates on an educational trip to Thailand from June 5 to 8.
There are also two new cases that have no confirmed links with previous patients.
One of them is the father of a boy who is a close contact of an earlier case.
The Ministry of Health is investigating if both infections are related.
The remaining 15 are all imported cases, including a 14-year-old Asian Youth Games participant from the Philippines.
He has been admitted to the Communicable Disease Centre, while his team-mates and two coaches are quarantined at the Aloha Resort at Loyang.
Singapore's total number of confirmed H1N1 cases now stands at 126, with 94 still in hospital. They are in stable condition.
Contact tracing is underway for all the cases.
- CNA /ls
- wong chee tat :)
Singapore confirms another 16 new H1N1 cases
Singapore confirms another 16 new H1N1 cases
By Valarie Tan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 22 June 2009 0040 hrs
SINGAPORE: Singapore has confirmed another 16 new cases of H1N1.
Seven are local and nine has travel history, bringing the total number of H1N1 cases in Singapore to 142.
A third cluster of locally-infected cases has also been identified at popular nightclub Butter Factory at One Fullerton.
The new case is a 19-year-old Singaporean female student. She visited the club on June 17 when three previously reported cases were also there.
The Health Ministry has advised all those who had visited Butter Factory on June 17 to monitor their health and seek medical attention if they feel unwell.
The other new cases include two additional ones from the Riverlife Church cluster.
One is a 20-year-old Singaporean female student who attended a church function on June 13, while the other is a 12-year-old Singaporean boy who is a cousin to an earlier case in the cluster.
There were also three new cases with no travel history and no known contact with confirmed cases.
One is a 22-year-old Singaporean female student who participated in a church camp at Prince George's Park from June 15 to 18.
Another is a 21-year-old National Serviceman based at Clementi Police Station.
There was also another local case, a 22-year-old Malaysian man, who is a colleague of a previously confirmed case.
The nine imported cases include three Singaporeans, two Permanent Residents and four foreigners (a Filippino, a Malaysian, an Australian and an Indonesian. They had travelled to Australia, the Philippines, the United Kingdom and Indonesia.
Contact tracing is underway. - CNA/de
- wong chee tat :)
Project Updates / Status
I'm supposed to provide an update last week but I'm busy testing out different sets of simulations, so hence the delay in providing the updates. Anyway, here is a quick update regarding the project.
Previously, testing out different , but related components gave me new insights to the problem.
Currently, I'm working on the problem on particle trajectories due to the field emission caused by different current regime. The first set of "correct" simulation data is just out. I will analyze and see if it make sense or not. If not, I'll have to modify it. I guess this will take a while and hopefully, I can finish the simulation as quickly as possible.
- wong chee tat :)
Previously, testing out different , but related components gave me new insights to the problem.
Currently, I'm working on the problem on particle trajectories due to the field emission caused by different current regime. The first set of "correct" simulation data is just out. I will analyze and see if it make sense or not. If not, I'll have to modify it. I guess this will take a while and hopefully, I can finish the simulation as quickly as possible.
- wong chee tat :)
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