September’s Super Harvest Moon Will Also Create a Partial Lunar Eclipse: How and When to See It
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Skywatchers around the world will be able to catch a glimpse of a partial lunar eclipse as September’s full harvest moon shines brightly Tuesday night.
The moon will reach its peak at 10:35 p.m. ET Tuesday, but will appear full until Thursday morning, according to NASA.
If you watch the moon on Tuesday night, for about an hour, it will also appear to have been bitten by a partial lunar eclipse. A partial lunar eclipse occurs when Earth moves between the sun and the full moon without being perfectly aligned. The celestial event will occur over Europe and much of Asia, Africa, North America and South America.
The Moon will enter Earth’s full shadow at 10:13 p.m. ET and exit at 11:16 p.m. ET.
According to NASA, the peak of the eclipse is expected to occur at 10:44 p.m. ET. Be sure to check Time and Date to find out when the partial eclipse will be visible in your area; it will occur in the evening in the United States, but in the early morning hours in Europe.
During a total lunar eclipse, Earth’s shadow can turn the moon’s surface a bright red, known as a blood moon, according to NASA. But that won’t be the case tonight, experts warn.
“Tonight’s eclipse will not be a total lunar eclipse, so the Moon will not appear red, but part of the Moon will darken,” said Noah Petro, NASA project scientist for the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and Artemis III.
“If you don’t know this is happening or aren’t even looking at the Moon, you might not notice it. But a careful observer might notice that the ‘upper right’ corner of the Moon is darker than the rest of the Moon,” he said via email. “That’s the part that’s completely in the shadow (of the Earth), although a small portion of the Moon won’t be in the dark. But if the sky is clear, I encourage people to go outside and look, it’s always worth observing the Moon!”
The September full moon is also considered the second of four consecutive supermoons expected in 2024, according to NASA. Definitions of a supermoon vary, but the term generally refers to a full moon that is closer to Earth than normal and therefore appears larger and brighter in the night sky. Some astronomers say the phenomenon occurs when the moon is 90 percent of perigee, or the closest point to Earth in its orbit.
While the average distance between Earth and the moon is 384,472 kilometers (238,900 miles), September’s full moon will be just 358,300 kilometers (222,637 miles) away, according to NASA.
And keep an eye out for Saturn, which will look like a bright dot near the full moon.
The name “harvest moon” is a nod to the season, as the event occurs near the beginning of fall, or the autumnal equinox, which occurs on September 22.
Many people associate the full moon with an orange color as it begins to rise, but the same could be said for all full moons. This hue is due to the greater thickness of Earth’s atmosphere near the horizon, according to EarthSky.
Typically, this time of year is when many summer-planted crops are at their peak in the Northern Hemisphere, and the bright moon once helped farmers work until evening to harvest their crops before the first frost, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Other nicknames for the September full moon, used by various indigenous tribes, include the Hopi people’s “Full Harvest Moon”, the Abenaki tribe’s “Corn Grower’s Moon”, the Lakota people’s “Brown Leaf Moon”, and the Passamaquoddy tribe’s “Autumn Moon”.
European names for the moon also pay homage to the fall harvest, including the “fruit moon,” a nod to the fruits that ripen in late summer, and the “barley moon” to mark the time when the crop is harvested from the fields, according to NASA.
Other traditions celebrating the harvest at this time include the Korean Chuseok Festival and the Chinese Mooncake Festival, which also celebrate family and remembering ancestors.
The next full moon, the Hunter’s Moon, on October 17, will also be a supermoon and the closest of the year, at 357,428 kilometers (222,095 miles).
The Beaver Moon will occur on November 15th and the last full moon of the year will be the Cold Moon on December 15th.
Meanwhile, skywatchers can expect a busy meteor shower season to close out 2024. Here are the peak dates for upcoming celestial activity, according to the American Meteor Society:
Draconids: October 7-8
Orionids: October 20-21
Southern Taurids: November 4 and 5
Northern Taurids: November 11-12
Leonids: November 17-18
Geminids: December 13-14
Ursids: December 21-22
