Known as the Flower Moon, May's full Moon will rise on the evening of the Coronation, 5 May 2023, at 8:35pm BST. Some of the names for full Moons are literal, so you may have already guessed where the name Flower Moon comes from. But are you right?
“Naming the full Moons has been done by ancient peoples around the world to mark events, as well as to act as a calendar," explains Dr Darren Baskill, astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex.
Although we have different names for different months now, in the past they had different names for different full Moons for the same reason – as a calendar to keep track of the passage of time.
It’s perhaps no surprise then, that the name ‘Flower Moon’ derives from the many flowers, particularly wildflowers, that burst into bloom during May.
“While we might now say to a friend, “Let’s meet at 1pm on Sunday 7 May, we could equally say: “Let’s meet two days after the full Flower Moon when the Sun is highest in the sky, and both mean the same time to within a few minutes,” explains Baskill.
Other names for the May full Moon include the ‘Blossom Moon’ and the gloriously practical reminder that is the ‘Corn-planting Moon’. The rather wonderful ‘Moon when the horses get fat’ was used among the Cheyenne of the American Great Plains.
"While the Full Moon names in common use today originate from North America, a huge variety of names were used by indigenous cultures both across North America, Europe and around the world," Baskill says.
"The name Flower Moon was used by those native to areas where carpets of flowers bloomed at this time of year, but other Native American cultures used different names depending on what was happening in their locality at that time of the year."
In some parts of the UK, the May Full Moon was called the Mothers’ Moon, as that is when a wide variety of animals are busy looking after their young," says Baskill.
The next full moon is popularly known as the Strawberry Moon and will rise on 4 June 2023.
About our expert
Dr Darren Baskill is an outreach officer and lecturer in the department of physics and astronomy at the University of Sussex. He previously lectured at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, where he also initiated the annual Astronomy Photographer of the Year competition.