Enjoy the End of Summer with Monday's Harvest Moon
Click to enlarge the image. Caption: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.
Summer will be over for those living in the Northern Hemisphere on Wednesday. The days are getting shorter slowly but surely ever since June's middle. The autumn equinox brings cooler weather and a change in the color of the trees. The harvest moon is on Monday, two days before fall officially begins.
Three days of moonrise will occur shortly after sunset. However, the harvest moon will peak at 7:54 p.m. ET Monday. This lunar event has historically provided farmers with a little more light to harvest their crops. The harvest moon, however, is not the equinoxes that occur at the same time every year. It is the full moon closest the autumnal equinox. According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, it can fall in September and October.
The last full moon of summer will make all this change. You might have noticed that the moon's size changes from time to another when you looked up at the night skies. NASA explains that the moon's orbit around Earth is not perfect.
Sometimes, the harvest moon can appear enormous, as it did in 2015 when it was the closest and largest super moon of the year. Because it is closer to Earth (known as the perigee), super moon events make the moon appear larger. The moon lies approximately 226,000 miles away from Earth at its closest point. Sometimes, however, harvest moons occur when the moon orbits farthest from Earth, the apogee at 253,000 miles.
The moon will turn orange if spectators are able to catch it rising just at the right moment. This theatrical touch isn’t just for the harvest moon. The color of the moon depends on several factors, including where it is viewed from. NASA states that the moon takes on a yellow or red color when it is closer to the horizon. As it rises, it will slowly take on its original pale, white color.
East Asian cultures celebrate the August Moon Festival. However, it doesn't always coincide the rising of the harvest Moon. According to the Boston Public Library the festival dates back to 771 B.C. The festival was marked by the harvesting of wheat and rice on the full moon night. The August moon is similar to Thanksgiving in the United States. However, instead of eating turkey, people enjoy mooncakes, which are sweet and savory desserts.
