Wednesday, September 10, 2014

Harvest Moon

For today's blog posting I am including photos that I took of the full moon.  This month we have a double treat.  The full moon is both a supermoon as well as a harvest moon.  A supermoon occurs when a full moon makes its closest approach to the Earth on its elliptical orbit.  A Harvest Moon occurs when a full moon falls closest to the Northern Hemisphere's fall equinox, which occurs on September 22nd.  Its name derives from the extra light it allows farmers to gather crops during harvesting.

Throughout the year the moon rises, on average, about 50 minutes later each day. However, during the fall equinox, the moon rise difference from day to day shrinks to only 30 minutes as the moon’s orbital path makes a smaller angle with the evening horizon.

According to NASA the Harvest Moon, and other supermoons, appear 14 per cent larger and around 30 per cent brighter than usual moons.






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