Because the full moon rises just before sunset and reaches its maximum brightness earlier, it not only gives farmers more working hours but also provides a spectacular sight for skywatchers around the world.
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As the nights get longer and temperatures drop in the Northern Hemisphere, a new moon rises in the sky, famous for its brightness and orange hue.
The Harvest Moon, which has inspired numerous cultural milestones — from a Nintendo game to Neil Young’s Billboard hit — occurs each year around the start of fall, a time when Earth’s only natural satellite is particularly close to our planet.
Because the full moon rises just before sunset and reaches its maximum brightness earlier, it not only gives farmers more working hours but also provides a spectacular sight for skywatchers around the world.
Here’s everything you need to know about this year’s Super Harvest Moon and how to see the celestial body when it’s also obscured by Earth’s shadow.
Moon observation: Partial lunar eclipse and supermoon create spectacular sights in the USA
What is a harvest moon?
Unlike other moon names, the Harvest Moon is not associated with a specific month, but rather occurs around the time of the autumn equinox every year, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. This means that the Harvest Moon can occur in either September or October, depending on how the lunar cycle aligns with the Gregorian calendar.
The autumn equinox this year is on Sunday, September 22nd, but the autumn moon is already rising in the night sky.
When is the harvest moon?
The Harvest Moon appeared on Monday and will last for three nights, ending in the early hours of Thursday, the almanac says.
The moon will reach its brightest at 10:34 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.
Why is it called Harvest Moon?
On the nights before the autumn equinox, the moon rises earlier than usual, so there is plenty of light early in the evening after sunset.
The extra light traditionally gave farmers more time to pick (or harvest) their crops, hence the name “Harvest Moon.”
Fall is traditionally a busy time of year for farmers, who are still harvesting the summer crops after sunset, NASA reports, so moonlight became an essential part of farming.
According to NASA’s Oxford English Dictionary, the first known written use of the name “Harvest Moon” in the English language dates back to 1706.
What does a harvest moon look like?
To many skywatchers, the Harvest Moon appears larger, brighter, and more orange than a normal moon.
But according to EarthSky, an astronomy and earth science website, this may be partly based on an illusion. That’s right: The way our brains process the sight causes the moon to appear larger near the horizon than higher in the sky, NASA says.
Since most people view the full moon after sunset, when the celestial body has just risen, it naturally appears larger than any full moon, EarthSky says. Its proximity to the horizon — at least from a skywatcher’s perspective — also gives the moon an orange hue, since viewers must look through a thicker layer of Earth’s atmosphere than when looking from above.
The Moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle, meaning that the distance of the full Moon from Earth in a given year can affect how large it appears in our sky.
Harvest Moon coincides with lunar eclipse and supermoon
This year, the Harvest Moon is not only a full supermoon, but also coincides with another celestial event: a partial lunar eclipse.
A supermoon occurs when the full moon coincides with the point where the satellite is closest to Earth in its elliptical orbit. A lunar eclipse, on the other hand, occurs when the Earth moves between the Sun and the Moon. This week, these three celestial bodies are not perfectly aligned, resulting in a partial lunar eclipse as the Earth’s shadow falls on the Moon’s surface – but does not completely cover it.
This week’s partial lunar eclipse should be visible across the entire Northern Hemisphere, including North America, on Tuesday night. For the U.S., that means all 48 southern states will be able to see it.
According to NASA, the moon will enter Earth’s partial shadow at 8:41 p.m. EDT, but it’s the peak of the eclipse that viewers will want to witness. While the moon will dim slightly around 10:13 p.m., the peak itself will be reached at 10:44 p.m.
Contributor: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]
