Harvest Moon shines night of September 14-15
Harvest Moon
Credit: Dan Bush of Missouri Skies
See a larger version of this image.
Sunday, September 14, 2008.
Astronomers say the full moon comes the instant the moon is most opposite the sun.
But though that instant happens tomorrow at 9:13 Universal Time, the moon will look full for the next few nights. For us in the northern hemisphere, this is the legendary full Harvest Moon – the full moon coming closest to the September 22nd autumn equinox.
At this time of year, there’s no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise. That’s why the Harvest Moon is famous. It rises in twilight – like a full moon – for several nights in a row. Before electricity, farmers took advantage of this seasonal bonanza of moonlight to gather their crops.
If our moon circled our planet above the equator – like many of our solar system’s moons do – we wouldn’t have a Harvest Moon. The moon’s path wouldn’t change. But the plane of the moon’s orbit is titled to Earth’s equator by about 27 degrees. That fact causes the full moon to exhibit differences from one season to another – and from one hemisphere to another.
After tonight, from mid-northern latitudes – the moon will rise about 20 minutes later from one day to the next. From comparable latitudes in the southern hemisphere, it’ll rise about 70 minutes later each day.
Am I the only one who saw the huge ring around the moon last night? I wanted to take a picture of it but was unable to and was hoping that someone else did and would post it! It was visible around 11pm EDT and was awesome!
Penelope,
Cloud cover and rain covered over the Harvest Moon in my neck of the woods. But I’ve seen lunar halos on occasion and very much enjoy their beauty. Here’s a past What causes a lunar halo? radio show, and a photo, courtesy of Hyperphysics.
Bruce