Top 40 Moon Songs and Monthly Moon Names for Your New Moon Party

The Moon is one of the most fascinating objects in the sky and has been the subject of songs, magical mystical folklore, and scientific study for centuries. The light or dark of the Moon has been credited for many history making events like the night the Titanic sank, the night Paul Revere made his midnight ride during the American Revolution, and The Great Escape of World War II. If you want to see what Moon Phase existed on your birthday or on other historical dates, check out the Sky and Telescope Moon Box. To see Full Moon dates and other Moon phases dates, including Lunar eclipse dates for the years 2001 to 2025, click here.

How The Sea of Tranquility Got Its Name

Perhaps the most notable Moon event for mankind was when Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first person to step foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969. Some people believe the Apollo 11 Moon landing was a hoax, staged by Hollywood special effects experts in order to give the controversial Moon space program some positive public relations attention. For more information about whether Apollo 11 was real, read Apollo Moon Landings: Real or Hoax.

The Apollo 11 Lunar Module named Eagle landed in the Sea of Tranquility as millions watched on their televisions. Most Moon landing viewers did not know that the Sea of Tranquility was actually named in 1651 by the Italian astronomer Giambattista Riccioli who thought the full Moon features were bodies of water similar to those on Earth. Actually, the Moon has no water and those Moon features that look like seas are ancient lava flows that covered the Moon's low surfaces between 3.1 and 3.8 billion years ago!

Scientists and engineers at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are building new fleets of spacecraft called the Ares for landing on the Moon again. One of the main missions of the Ares program is to build a long-term sustainable human presence on the Moon. Exploring the Moon will help scientists learn how we might live and work on the Moon or planets other than Earth someday.

Monthly Full Moon Names

Ancient astronomers, ancient civilizations, Native Americans, and songwriters have given the magical mystical Moon different nicknames over the centuries. Only the first full Moon of the month gets honored with a name. The second full Moon of the month is mistakingly called the Blue Moon, but there are actually several other meanings for the Blue Moon that are explained in the Sky and Telescope "Once in a Blue Moon" article. In 1883, when the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupted, its dust turned sunsets green and the Moon blue all around the world for almost two years. Here are the Moon names by month that you often hear in Moon folklore and Moon songs:

January - Wolf Moon, Old Moon
February - Snow Moon, Hunger Moon, Opening Buds Moon
March - Sap Moon, Worm Moon, Crow Moon, Crust Moon, Maple Sugar Moon
April - Grass Moon, Pink Moon, Moon of the Red Grass Appearing, Frog Moon, Planter's Moon
May - Flower Moon, Budding Moon, Milk Moon
June - Rose Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon
July - Hay Moon, Thunder Moon, Buck Moon, Blood Moon
August - Moon of the Green Corn, Sturgeon Moon, Green Corn Moon, Corn Moon
September - Harvest Moon, Fruit Moon
October - Hunter's Moon, Moon of Falling Leaves, Harvest Moon
November - Beaver Moon, Frost Moon
December - Cold Moon, Long Night Moon

Top 40 Moon Songs for Your Full Moon Watching Party

Pink Moon - Nick Drake
Moon Over Bourbon Street - Sting
Blue Moon - Elvis Presley
Heading For The Moon - Cyndi Lauper
Bark at the Moon - Ozzy Osbourne
The Killing Moon - Echo & The Bunnymen
Bad Side Of The Moon - Elton John
Full Moon - Brandy
Dancin' In The Moonlight - King Harvest
Blue Moon of Kentucky - Bill Monroe
Moonshadow - Cat Stevens
Ticket To The Moon - Electric Light Orchestra
Walking on the Moon - The Police
Spin Moon Magic - The Dreamside
Moon Song - Arlo Guthrie
It's Only A Paper Moon - Leon Parker
Moon River - Andy Williams
Sisters of the Moon - Stevie Nicks
By The Light Of The Silvery Moon - Doris Day
New Moon on Monday - Duran Duran
Shepard Moons - Enya
Moondance - Van Morrison
Memories in the Moonlight - Broadway Show Cats
When the Moon Hits Your Eye - Dean Martin
Age of Aquarius - The 5^th Dimension
Man on the Moon - R.E.M. and Bruce Springsteen
Harvest Moon - Neil Young
Song About The Moon - Paul Simon
Dark Side of the Moon - Pink Floyd
Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
Fly Me to the Moon - Frank Sinatra
Everyone's Gone To The Moon - Jonathan King
The Mystic's Dream - Loreena McKenn
There's A Moon In The Sky - The B-52s
Oh Oh Oh It's Magic - Pilot
Mystical One - George Harrison
Dance Magic Dance - The Labyrinth
Magic Carpet Ride - Steppenwolf
Do You Believe in Magic - Lovin' Spoonful
Magical Mystery Tour - The Beatles

Sources:

The Phase of the Moon
Sky and Telescope
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/javascript/Moon_Phase_Calc.html

Apollo Moon Landings: Real or Hoax
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/429968/apollo_moon_landings_real_or_hoax.html?cat=9

NASA Future Moon Visits
http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/home/programs.html

NASA Full Moon Names
http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970314a.html

NASA Moon Phases Calendar: 2001-2025
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phase2001gmt.html

Take A Moon Walk Tonight
Sky and Telescope
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3381766.html?page=3&c=y

The Six Meanings of a Blue Moon
Sky and Telescope
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3305141.html?page=1&c=y

What Is A Blue Moon
Sky and Telescope
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3304131.html?page=1&c=y