Mar 21, 2016 Moon Hunters doesn't give you the time to truly nestle into its world in one sitting, relying instead on the idea that they’ll keep coming back to uncover more and more with each successive. The Hunter's Moon Lights Up the October Sky. October’s Full Moon is the Hunter’s Moon. It is also called Travel Moon, Dying Grass Moon, and sometimes Blood Moon or Sanguine Moon. Deer are hunted in the month of October. October is hunting season as the game is fattened, and it is time to prepare for winter.
Swami Krishnananda in Ranchi, India, told us in 2017: “What is known as Hunter’s Moon in the West is called Kartik Purnima in India, and it is a sacred festival celebrated all over India. The photo was taken in Ranchi during this celebration, when a marble temple dedicated to Paramahansa Yogananda [author of the amazing book Autobiography of a Yogi] was lit up with candles.” Thank you, Swami Krishnananda!
Jun 03, 2015 Also known as a sanguine or “blood” moon, the term “Hunters Moon” is used traditionally to refer to a full moon that appears during the month of October. It is preceded by the appearance of a “Harvest Moon”, which is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. Apr 22, 2016 Nov 23, 2016 @ 8:30am Both of us are using windows, it is at distance as one of us is from the UK and the other is from USA. I can't get the exact connection speed but it's decent. It was a tough decision with lots of great entries, but with only one grand prize, we had to make a decision. Congratulations to our winner, Alisdair Ross (@alisdaiross), for his rendition of the Moon Hunters Druid! Look at that beautiful composition, color palette, and detail. Just gorgeous work, Alisdair. We hope you’ll love your.
In skylore, every full moon has many names, and most are tied to months of the year. But some moon names are tied to seasons, such as the Harvest and Hunter’s Moons. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. The Hunter’s Moon is the full moon after the Harvest Moon. For us in the Northern Hemisphere, 2019’s 2019 Harvest Moon came on September 13-14. So the upcoming full moon – around October 12-13, 2019 – is the Northern Hemisphere’s Hunter’s Moon.
Hunters Moon 2016
What makes a Hunter’s Moon special? Nature is particularly cooperative around the time of the autumn equinox to make the fall full moonrises unique.
2017’s Hunter Moon – November 3 – over Bloomington, Indiana, via Ken Meadows.
Here’s what happens. On average, the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day. But when a full moon happens close to the autumnal equinox – either a Harvest or a Hunter’s Moon – the moon (at mid-temperate latitudes) rises only about 30 to 35 minutes later daily for several days before and after the full moon. The reason is that the ecliptic – or the moon’s orbital path – makes a narrow angle with the evening horizon around the time of the autumn equinox.
The result is that there’s a shorter-than-usual lag time between successive moonrises around the full Hunter’s Moon.
These early evening moonrises are what make every Hunter’s Moon special. Every full moon rises around sunset. After the full Hunter’s Moon, you’ll see the moon ascending in the east relatively soon after sunset for a few days in a row at northerly latitudes.
If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, look for the moon to be bright and full-looking for several nights beginning around October 11 and 12. Keep watching on October 13 and 14. Around all of these nights, you’ll see a bright round moon in your sky, rising around the time of sunset, highest in the middle of the night.
Here in the Northern Hemisphere, it’s autumn now. That means the ecliptic – or sun and moon’s path – makes its narrowest angle with your horizon in early evening. Image via ClassicalAstronomy.com.
When the angle of the ecliptic is narrow, the moon rises noticeably farther north on your horizon from one night to the next. So there’s no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise. In other words, around the time of an autumn full moon, many people see the rising moon ascending in the eastern sky in twilight, for several evenings in a row. If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, your evening ecliptic is nearly perpendicular to your early evening horizon now. You’ll see the full moon rise in twilight, but the next night’s moon come up in darkness, much later at night. Image via ClassicalAstronomy.com.
For all of us, the precise time of full moon is Sunday, October 13, 2019, at 21:08 UTC; translate UTC to your time.
The times don’t really matter. No matter where you live worldwide, look for a full-looking moon in the east as the sun goes down over the next several days. This full or full-looking moon will cross our skies throughout the night, as seen from around the globe.
Hunters Moon October 2016
Want to know the time of moonrise in your location? My favorite source of that information is this Custom Sunrise Sunset Calendar. Once you get to that page, be sure to click the box for “moon phases” and “moonrise and moonset times.”
Hunter’s Moon light on the ocean – October 23, 2018 – from Michael Busch in Long Island, New York. See more photos of 2018’s Hunter’s Moon.
Is a Hunter’s Moon always bigger, or brighter or more colorful? No. The Hunter’s Moon is just an ordinary full moon with a special path across our sky. Still, many of us do think the Hunter’s Moon always looks bigger … or brighter … and more orange than usual. Why?
It’s because the Hunter’s Moon has a powerful mystique. Many people look for it shortly after sunset around the time of full moon. After sunset around any full moon, the moon will always be near the horizon … because full moons rise at sunset. It’s the location of the moon near the horizon that causes the Hunter’s Moon – or any full moon – to look big and orange in color.
Orange moon near the horizon. The orange color of a moon near the horizon is a true physical effect. It stems from the fact that, when you look toward the horizon, you’re looking through a greater thickness of Earth’s atmosphere than when you gaze up and overhead. The atmosphere scatters blue light – that’s why the sky looks blue. The greater thickness of atmosphere in the direction of a horizon scatters blue light most effectively, but it lets red light pass through to your eyes. So a full moon near the horizon – any full moon near the horizon – takes on a yellow or orange or reddish hue.
Big moon near the horizon. The bigger-than-usual size of a moon seen near the horizon is something else entirely. It’s a trick that your eyes are playing – an illusion – called the Moon Illusion. You can find lengthy explanations of the Moon Illusion by googling those words yourself.
Rising Hunter’s Moon. Photo by Abhinav Singhai, 2014.
How did the Hunter’s Moon get its name? We hear many, many different explanations for the name Hunter’s Moon.
In the autumn months, there’s no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise for several days in a row, around the time of full moon. In the days before tractor lights, the lamp of the Harvest Moon helped farmers to gather their crops, despite the diminishing daylight hours. As the sun’s light faded in the west, the moon would soon rise in the east to illuminate the fields throughout the night. A month later, after the harvest was done, the full Hunter’s Moon was said to illuminate the prey of hunters, scooting along in the stubble left behind in the fields.
Who named the Harvest and Hunter’s Moon? Those names probably sprang to the lips of farmers and hunters throughout the world, on autumn evenings, at times of the full moon.
Full Hunter’s Moon rising over the Bothnian Sea, Sweden, on November 4, 2017, via Jörgen Norrland Andersson.
What if I’m in the Southern Hemisphere? If you’re in the Southern Hemisphere, your Harvest and Hunter’s moons center on the March equinox, your autumn equinox. Much of what we say in his post – the general information about Harvest and Hunter’s Moons – applies to you, too … next March and April. Right now, your full moon will be doing the opposite of a Hunter’s Moon. That is, for the Southern Hemisphere around the time of the October and November full moons, there’s a longer-than-usual time between moonrises on successive nights.
Bottom line: The Hunter’s Moon for the Northern Hemisphere in 2019 comes around the full moon of October 12-13. Learn the lore of the Hunter’s Moon – and what to look for – here.
Deborah Byrd created the EarthSky radio series in 1991 and founded EarthSky.org in 1994. Today, she serves as Editor-in-Chief of this website. She has won a galaxy of awards from the broadcasting and science communities, including having an asteroid named 3505 Byrd in her honor. A science communicator and educator since 1976, Byrd believes in science as a force for good in the world and a vital tool for the 21st century. 'Being an EarthSky editor is like hosting a big global party for cool nature-lovers,' she says.
| Moon Hunters | |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Kitfox Games |
| Publisher(s) | Kitfox Games |
| Platform(s) | Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch |
| Release | March 10, 2016 |
| Genre(s) | Action RPG, Roguelike |
| Mode(s) | Cooperative multiplayer single-player |
Moon Hunters is an action role-playing video game developed and published by Kitfox Games. It was released on March 10, 2016 for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux through the download service Steam, for PlayStation 4 on July 19, 2016, and was released for Xbox One on July 19, 2017 and the Nintendo Switch. The game received mixed critical reception, which praised the game's unique gameplay, graphical style and storytelling, but criticized the short length and lack of combat depth.
Gameplay[edit]
A co-op, roguelike action RPG that is described by the developer as a 'personality test RPG',[1]Moon Hunters lets up to four players choose from one of six different characters, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.[2] They must set out on a dangerous journey to bring the moon back to the fantasy land of Issaria and stop the evil Sun Cult.[2] The game's endings can differ widely depending on the choices the characters make during the journey, and the outcome of the final battle.[2] The areas of the game are procedurally generated and will differ for each playthrough.[2] However, information about past playthroughs is saved in the form of constellations.[2]
Plot[edit]
One night in the fantasy land of Issaria, the moon does not rise.[3] As the source of all magic and spiritual power, its disappearance imbalanced the world, and the game's heroes must set out to restore the balance again.[3] Without the moon's power, monsters infest the land, causing chaos and spreading danger.[3]
The story of the game is non-linear, and changes depending on the actions of players all the way up to and including the ending.[3]
Development[edit]
The lead designer of Moon Hunters, Tanya Short, was heavily motivated by the idea of creating a game that used procedural generation to create 'personal player narratives'.[4] In order to do that, she had to find a way for players to become invested in quests that were randomized.[4] Instead of using traditional good/evil moral duality, the game bases characters' actions around their own distinct personalities.[4] The game uses a campfire system to build the players' bonds with their characters, and focuses on breadth of potential experiences over the depth of the game itself.[4]
The game was designed with its ancient Mesopotamian setting in mind. The game's story was influenced by ancient myths from a number of different sources, though sometimes a version of a myth was chosen that better reflected modern egalitarian values.[5] Despite a heavy amount of research, the lead designer regretted not being able to hire an expert on Sumerian history to make the myths more accurate.[5]
Reception[edit]
Hunters Moon 2016
Since its release on Steam, Moon Hunters has garnered mixed reception, holding an aggregate score of 62/100 on Metacritic for the PC version of the game.[6]
Sam Wachter of RPGamer gave the game a 4/5, calling the game's writing 'gorgeous' and the world 'atmospheric'. She also praised the game's soundtrack and overall gameplay, but criticized its lack of online co-op and the fact that it was not as fun playing it in singleplayer. She also called the game's length 'too short'.[7]
Davis Cox of Kill Screen scored the game 65/100, saying it 'nobly aims for the stars', but that the gameplay is unbalanced with repetitive and 'overpowered' moves, though the game's story makes up for this.[2]
Edge Magazine gave the game a score of 60/100, commending the game on allowing you to 'elope with the final boss', but saying that the game ends more quickly than expected.[8]
References[edit]
- ^'Cooperative Myth-Making Action RPG Moon Hunters Hitting PS4 July 12'. Siliconera. 2016-05-27. Retrieved 2017-08-11.
- ^ abcdef'Moon Hunters is about legends, but isn't quite legendary - Kill Screen'. Kill Screen. 2016-09-07. Archived from the original on 2016-09-26. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
- ^ abcd'Moon Hunters | Co-op Personality Test'. www.moonhuntersgame.com. Archived from the original on 2017-06-11. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
- ^ abcdFrancis, Bryant. '3 lessons on procedural storytelling from Moon Hunters'. Archived from the original on 2017-05-11. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
- ^ ab'The Developer of 'Moon Hunters' Explains How Diversity Shaped the Game'. Vice. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
- ^'Moon Hunters'. Metacritic. Archived from the original on 2017-01-02. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
- ^'RPGamer > Review > Moon Hunters'. www.rpgamer.com. Archived from the original on 2016-09-19. Retrieved 2017-06-18.
- ^'Moon Hunters Review'. Edge Magazine. May 2016. p. 123.