Harvest Moon and Jupiter

I just came inside after a moonlight walk tonight.  No flashlight needed for tonight is the first full night of the harvest moon illuminating the skies and the earth all night long.  Yesterday was the September or autumnal equinox, commonly used to mark the start of autumn. The closest full moon to the autumnal equinox is called the full harvest moon.

Moon Illusion: Harvest Moon low on the horizon seems bigger and brighter.

Typically the harvest moon appears before or after the September equinox but this year the full moon came just six hours following the equinox.  If that’s not enough, we’re having the perfect tripartite display with Jupiter blazing away to the right of the moon.  For these three events to happen in succession in just a couple of days time is rare and exciting.

The harvest moon was named such because farmers used the bright moonlight to harvest their crops. Tonight’s sky is a beautiful sight with everything bathed in the warm glow of moonbeams.  So if you can, step outside tonight, look up and see the first super harvest moon we’ve had in 20 years.  If you miss it, you can see it again in 2029.

Ann Hohenberger, The Garden Club of Gloucester