September 16, 2016 Harvest Moon

WHAT IS A HARVEST MOON?

HARVEST MOON FACTS AND INFORMATION

Fred Schaaf

What is the “Harvest Moon,” and why does this particular Moon have special importance? We explain in detail.

The Harvest Moon is the full Moon nearest the start of fall or the autumnal equinox. This usually means it’s the September full Moon though it can also fall in early October, coming anywhere from two weeks before to two weeks after the equinox.

WHAT MAKES THE HARVEST MOON DIFFERENT?

There are just a fraction over 12 complete Moon cycles every year, on average (there being about 29.53 days in a synodic month). The Harvest Moon isn’t like the other Moons. Usually, throughout the year, the Moon rises an average of about 50 minutes later each day. But near the autumnal equinox, the difference is only 30 minutes.

Also,the Full Harvest Moon rises at sunset and then will rise near sunset for several nights in a row because the difference is at a yearly minimum. It may almost seem as if there are full Moons multiple nights in a row!

The abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening was a traditional aide to harvest crews, hence the “Harvest” Moon. Now you know!

THE 2016 HARVEST MOON ECLIPSE

This year, the day the Harvest Moon rises also brings a Penumbral Lunar Eclipse. On Friday, September 16, 2016, The Old Farmer’s Almanac will partner with Slooh’s global network of observatories to broadcast this event to the world.

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE HARVEST MOON

If interested, here is more detailed information about the Harvest Moon. (Stop here if you’re not ready for scientific explanation!)

The Moon’s orbital motion (combined with the larger orbit of the Earth around the Sun) carries it farther eastward among the constellations of the zodiac from night to night. At any one moonrise, the Moon occupies a particular place on the celestial sphere (the great dome of the heavens), but when the Earth turns toward that point 24 hours later, the Moon has moved off to the east about 12 degrees, and it takes an average of 50 minutes longer for the Earth to rotate toward the Moon and for the Moon thus to “rise.” Think of it as a giant Slinky in which each loop, representing one lunar orbit of the Earth, advances the orbit a bit farther along the spiral path.

But around the date of the Harvest Moon, the Moon rises about the same time. Why? Remember that the zodiac is the band of constellations through which the Moon travels from night to night. The section of the zodiac band in which the full Moon travels around the start of autumn is the section that forms the most shallow angle with the eastern horizon. Because the Moon’s orbit on successive nights is more nearly parallel to the horizon at that time, its relationship to the eastern horizon does not change appreciably, and the Earth does not have to turn as far to bring up the Moon.

The Moon may rise as little as 23 minutes later on several nights before and after the full Harvest Moon (at about 42 degrees north latitude),which mean extra light at peak harvest time near autumn. By the time the Moon has reached last quarter, however, the typical 50-minute delay has returned.

At the start of spring, the opposite applies. The full Moon is in the section of the zodiac that has the steepest angle with respect to the eastern horizon. For several days bracketing the full Moon nearest the vernal equinox, the delay in moonrise is as much as 75 minutes (at 42 degrees north latitude).

Here is another way of expressing what happens with the Harvest Moon: It is in this part of the zodiac that the Moon’s eastward (orbital) motion has its largest northward component. For observers in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, the farther north an object is in the heavens, the longer an arc it makes across the sky, and the longer a time it is visible above the horizon. Thus, to say that the Moon is getting rapidly farther north each night around the time of the Harvest Moon is to say that, for northern latitudes on Earth, it will keep rising distinctly earlier than would otherwise be expected—nearly the same time as the night before.

How nearly the same is “almost the same time” each night? This varies with latitude, for the farther north you are, the shallower the angle of the zodiac is with respect to your horizon. In most of the United States and southern Canada, the Harvest Moon rises 25 to 30 minutes later each night. The effect is less noticeable the farther south you go. But going north makes the Harvest Moon more extreme.

According to astronomy author Guy Ottewell, the idea of the Harvest Moon originated in Europe (average latitude about 50 degrees north), where the Harvest Moon rises only ten to 20 minutes later each night. It must have seemed a boon that just when days were getting rapidly shorter and the Sun seemed to go down all too soon, the Harvest Moon arrived to extend the hours that harvesting could be done.

Source: https://www.almanac.com/content/what-harvest-moon

Photo Credit: Sandra Fleming

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