Autumn is on the way, and it's time to reap the beauty of September's full
moon — popularly called the Harvest Moon.
The next full moon peaks on Saturday, Sept. 10 at approximately 6 a.m. EDT
(10 a.m. UTC), although it will appear bright and full in the sky beginning
on Friday (Sept. 9) and into Sunday (Sept. 11) as well.
The moon is back to being a regular old full moon after summer gave us four
supermoons in a row — that is, four full moons that rose during the moon's
closest approach to Earth during its orbit, making the moon appear larger
and up to 16% brighter in the sky than an average full moon, Live Science
previously reported. August's "Sturgeon Moon" was the final supermoon of
2022.
September's full moon has been called by its Old European name, the Harvest
Moon, since at least 1706, according to NASA. This is the closest full moon
to the autumnal equinox, when many crops are harvested in the Northern
Hemisphere; additionally, some farmers have historically used the full
moon's light to work late into the night harvesting their crops, NASA added.
The moon goes by several non-European names, as well. Best known among them
is the Corn Moon, coined by the Algonquin tribes who inhabited what is now
the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. The Maine Farmers'
Almanac, which began publishing Native American moon names in the 1930s,
notes that the Corn Moon rises during the part of the year when corn,
pumpkins, squash and various other fall staples are harvested.
The Harvest Moon frequently coincides with several religious and cultural
holidays, including the Mid-Autumn Festival celebrated in China and several
other Asian countries, and the 16-day Pitru Paksha period of the Hindu
calendar. Last year, the moon also coincided with the start of the seven-day
Sukkot holiday in Judaism.
The full moon occurs about once a month when the sun, Earth and moon align
on an invisible 180-degree line. The moon's orbit is about 5 degrees
different from Earth's, so our satellite is usually a little higher or lower
than Earth's shadow, enabling the sun's rays to illuminate the side facing
Earth.
The next full moon will be the Hunter's Moon, which falls on Oct. 9.
Originally published on Live Science.
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Space & Astrophysics