Jersey Skies: The full Harvest Moon will shine bright to begin October – Jersey’s Best

by Kevin D. Conod | For Jersey's Best September 28, 2020

Posted on September 28, 2020 by Ana Gonzalez - Community

Earths satellite grows fat over the next couple of days as it heads toward full moon. The gibbous moon gets its name from a Latin word meaning humped, a reference to the fact that moon does not look round during this phase.

The gibbous moon is heading eastward over the next few days, getting brighter and fuller each day. Ordinarily the moon rises about 45 minutes to an hour later each night. But when the full moon occurs near the equinox, it is in a spot that allows the moon to rise at a similar time for a couple of days in a row.

At the equinox, which occurred Sept. 22, the sun is directly above the equator. The closest full moon to the equinox this year is Oct. 1. Since the full moon is opposite the sun, it too is near, or at least close, to the equator. This is the Harvest Moon, so named because the full moon provides additional lighting for farmers to bring in their crops.

The sun is setting this week around 6:37 p.m. The moon rises at 6:35 p.m., 6:58 p.m. and 7:21 p.m. on Sept. 30, Oct. 1 and Oct. 2, respectively. Modern outdoor lighting has largely replaced the moon as a source of illumination, but the Harvest Moon still ushers in the fall foliage, pumpkins and harvest festivals of the autumn season.

Kevin D.Conod is the planetarium manager and astronomer at the The Newark Museum of ArtsDreyfussPlanetarium. For updates on the night sky, call the Newark Skyline at (973) 596-6529.

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Jersey Skies: The full Harvest Moon will shine bright to begin October - Jersey's Best