The Harvest Full Moon will appear just after sunset on Friday September 9. Its 100% moment of fullness is shortly before 6 am the next morning and it will look full for several days in a row.
Why is it a Harvest Moon? The term came from years ago when farmers depended on some extra evenings of moonlight to finish their harvests before the first frosts. Harvest Moon is also the name we give to the full moon nearest the fall equinox, which can either be in September or October depending on the timing. The 2022 fall equinox is Thursday September 22. It’s our day in the Northern Hemisphere where we have equal amounts of light and darkness. For us it is the first day of fall.
The Native Americans also called the September full moon the Corn Moon or the Barley Moon. To them it was harvest season and time to prepare food for winter. They were keenly observant of nature and used names to refer not just to full moon but to the entire month.
As seasons change so do our views of the planets. For example, Jupiter changes position in September. This is called opposition. For Jupiter this occurs roughly every thirteen months. What we notice is that the planet is no longer rising early in the morning and vanishing with the sun. Starting September 26 Jupiter will rise in the east at sunset. It will brighten our evenings well into March of next year!
