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    • How to See the Full Moon in September
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    How to See the Full Moon in September

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    Because the moon rises around sunset and reaches full strength earlier, the Harvest Moon not only provides more work for farmers, but can also provide a beautiful sight for stargazers across the hemisphere.

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    As the nights grow longer and temperatures drop in the Northern Hemisphere, a new moon will appear in the sky, known for its brightness and orange color.

    The Harvest Moon, which has spawned countless cultural highlights – from a Nintendo game to Neil Young’s Billboard hit – occurs each year around the beginning of autumn, at a time when Earth’s only natural satellite is particularly close to our planet.

    Because the moon rises around sunset and reaches full strength earlier, the Harvest Moon not only provides more work for farmers, but can also provide a beautiful sight for stargazers across the hemisphere.

    Here’s what you need to know about this year’s Super Harvest Moon and how to see the celestial body while it’s also eclipsed by Earth’s shadow.

    Moongazing: Partial lunar eclipse combines with supermoon to create spectacular views across the US

    What is a Harvest Moon?

    Unlike other moon names, the Harvest Moon is not associated with a specific month, but occurs each year around the time of the autumnal equinox, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. This means that the Harvest Moon can occur in either September or October, depending on how the moon’s cycle aligns with the Gregorian calendar.

    This year’s autumnal equinox is Sunday, September 22, but the Harvest Moon rises during the night.

    When is the harvest moon?

    The Harvest Moon appeared Monday and will last for three nights, ending in the early morning hours of Thursday, according to the Almanac.

    The Moon will reach peak brightness at 10:34 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.

    Why is it called a harvest moon?

    During the nights leading up to the autumnal equinox, the moon rises earlier than normal, bringing plenty of light earlier in the evening after sunset.

    The extra light traditionally gave farmers more time to pick (or harvest) their crops, thus the name “Harvest Moon” came about.

    According to NASA, autumn has traditionally been a busy time of year for farmers as they work past sunset to harvest summer crops, making moonlight an essential part of farming.

    According to NASA, the name “Harvest Moon” was first recorded in the English language in 1706, according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

    What does a harvest moon look like?

    Many stargazers find the Harvest Moon to be larger, brighter, and more orange than a normal moon.

    But according to EarthSky, a website dedicated to astronomy and earth sciences, that may be partly due to an illusion. That’s right: The way our brains process the image makes the moon appear larger near the horizon than when it’s higher in the sky, NASA says.

    Because most people view the full Harvest 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 skygazer’s vantage point — is also what gives the moon its orangey hue, since viewers must peer through a thicker portion of Earth’s atmosphere than when looking overhead.

    The moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle around the Earth. This means that the distance of the full Harvest Moon from Earth in a given year can affect how large the moon appears in our sky.

    Harvest moon coincides with lunar eclipse, super moon

    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 a full moon coincides with the satellite’s closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit. A lunar eclipse, on the other hand, results from the Earth passing between the sun and the moon. This week, those three celestial bodies aren’t perfectly aligned, creating a partial lunar eclipse, as Earth’s shadow falls on the moon’s surface but doesn’t completely cover it.

    This week’s partial lunar eclipse should be visible Tuesday night across the entire Northern Hemisphere, including North America. For those in the United States, that means all of the lower 48 states should have a view.

    According to NASA, the moon will enter Earth’s partial shadow at 8:41 PM EDT, but it’s the peak of the eclipse that viewers will want to see. While the moon will dim slightly around 10:13 PM, the peak itself will occur at 10:44 PM.

    Contributors: Doyle Rice, USA TODAY

    Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]

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