Get ready for a late summer show: Monday evening, September 20, a beautiful “harvest” full moon rises in the eastern sky and reaches its climax at 7:54 pm. SUMMER.
Here comes the harvest moon!
The harvest moon is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox on September 22 of this year.
Why the nickname “Harvest” Moon? “Before the headlight tractors, moonlight tweaks were essential for growing crops quickly before the rain rotted them,” said Alan MacRobert, editor of Sky & Telescope magazine.
In late summer and early fall, many plants ripen at the same time, so farmers were extremely busy at that time of year, according to NASA. They had to work after dark.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the moon rises shortly after sunset on several evenings. “This results in an abundance of brilliant early evening moonlight that has been a traditional tool for farmers and crew members to harvest their summer crops. This is why it is called the ‘harvest moon’. “.
Since the autumn equinox can take place from September 22 to 23, the Farmer’s Almanac adds that the harvest moon on the calendar could come on September 8 or October 7.
So a summer harvest moon, particularly one that occurs a few days before the equinox, is not uncommon, the Almanac said. “In fact, about 50% of all harvest moons occur in the summer.”
September is generally the month associated with harvest moons; they occur nearly 76 percent of the time, while October harvest moons occur on average only 24 percent, according to the Almanac.
Also, when the moon rises, the moon often turns red due to the clouds and dust in our atmosphere. The moons on the horizon have also swelled to a bizarre size due to the moon illusion, a well-known but still mysterious visual trick that makes low moons appear much larger than they actually are.
For a real blast from the past, check out this: The Harvest Moon was the subject of this catchy early 1930s pop standard: