Moon tonight / August 2027

Full Moon August 2027: Sturgeon Moon

Q: When is the full moon in August 2027?

The August 2027 full moon is on August 17 at 3:29 AM EDT, which is 12:29 AM PDT on August 17 on the West Coast. The table shows the time in every US zone.

Q: What is the August full moon called?

It is the Sturgeon Moon. Lake sturgeon were an important staple, and August was when they were most easily caught in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, a name Carver also recorded in the 1760s. Wild rice and corn gave other nations their August names.

Q: What time does the August full moon rise?

The full moon rises near sunset. The table gives moonrise that evening for New York, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, Anchorage and Honolulu, each on its own clock, with the compass direction it appears in.

Q: Is the August 2027 full moon a supermoon?

Not by this page’s rule. It is about 405,078 km away at the full moon, and a supermoon here means a full moon closer than 360,000 km.

Q: Is the August 2027 full moon a Blue Moon?

No. A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month or the third of four in one season, and the moon does not turn blue.

Q: Why do full moon times differ by time zone?

The moon is full at one instant for everyone on Earth. Each zone writes that instant on its own clock, so it can land on a different date late in the evening.

The Sturgeon Moon is full on August 17 at 3:29 AM EDT. Here is the time in every US zone and moonrise that evening in six cities.

Photo: “Moon rise over the Green River and sage steppe at Seedskadee National Wildlife Refuge”, Tom Koerner, USFWS Mountain-Prairie, Public domain

The exact time

When the August full moon happens in each US time zone

The August 2027 full moon in each US time zone
Time zone	Date	Time
Eastern	August 17	3:29 AM EDT
Central	August 17	2:29 AM CDT
Mountain	August 17	1:29 AM MDT
Pacific	August 17	12:29 AM PDT
Alaska	August 16	11:29 PM AKDT
Hawaii	August 16	9:29 PM HST

Instants from the U.S. Naval Observatory’s table of moon phases.

Moonrise

Moonrise that evening in six cities

A full moon rises close to sunset. The compass direction is where to look on the horizon.

Moonrise on the evening of the August 2027 full moon in six cities
City	Evening of	Moonrise	Direction
New York	Aug 16	7:35 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Chicago	Aug 16	7:33 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Denver	Aug 16	7:39 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Los Angeles	Aug 16	7:24 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Anchorage	Aug 16	9:37 PM	east-southeast (ESE)
Honolulu	Aug 16	6:50 PM	east-southeast (ESE)

The name

Why it is called the Sturgeon Moon

Lake sturgeon were an important staple, and August was when they were most easily caught in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, a name Carver also recorded in the 1760s. Wild rice and corn gave other nations their August names.

These names come from Native American, Colonial American and European traditions, and nations named the moons by their own seasons, so no one name belongs to a single people. Names follow the Old Farmer's Almanac.