Friday night will be a fun-filled spectacle with the emergence of the harvest moon.
Incidentally, September's full moon and final eclipse of the year will occur on the same day. So whereever you are this coming friday, don't forget and check up the sky.
Why is it called harvest moon? What is the difference between harvest moon and lunar eclipse?
The "harvest moon" is a traditional term for a full moon that occurs during late summer and in the autumn. Usually, this full moon appears in August, September, and October; respectively. The harvest moon is the closest to the autumnal equinox.
It's called harvest moon because during these months, farmers did most of the harvesting. Harvest moon is very special. It is also the time wherein most nights, moon rises an average of 30 minutes later than the previous day.
Harvest moons are likely more bigger and brighter than the other full moons. Reason behind this is we get to see it rise over the horizon earlier than that of the other full moons. This is called the "moon illusion"; which has been the subject of scientific research.
It is often considered as a supermoon. But, it is still on debate whether it is true or not. Astrologer Richard Noelle mentioned that a supermoon is a new or full moon that occurs when the moon is within 90 percent of its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit
Noelle has a list of all supermoons but it doesn't jive with the list of former NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak. Espenak's list includes an extra supermoon in 2016 which is the harvest moon.
At 3:05 PM on Friday, the moon becomes officially full. Sun sets at 7:14 p.m., and the moon rises at 7:22 p.m.
