Autumn blew in last weekend with a chill and flourish of color. This weekend we get Fall v2.0 with an appearance by the Harvest Moon, the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox.
The name of Harvest Moon harks back to our agrarian past, when farmers could continue harvesting by its light for several evenings in a row. Because the angle of the full moon's path to the horizon is very shallow in September and October, the time difference between successive moonrises is only about 20 to 30 minutes instead of the usual 50 to 60. For several nights in a row a big moon seems to rise at nearly the same time -- a constant companion of sorts.
With moonrise happening on the heels of sunset, farmers could harvest their crops into the night before electric lighting was invented.
The moon, planets and sun all travel along the ecliptic, an invisible circle in the sky that defines the plane of the solar system. During early fall, the ecliptic runs nearly parallel to the eastern horizon for the northern hemisphere. As the moon scoots eastward along this path at the rate of one fist held at arm's length each day, its rising times vary by a half-hour or less.
Exactly the opposite happens six months later in spring, when the moon's path is tipped at a steep angle to the horizon. While it moves the same amount each night -- one outstretched fist -- the moon is much farther below the horizon from one night to the next, delaying moonrise by an hour or more.
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You'll see the full moon one night and wonder why it's taking so long to rise the next.
We all love to see a big orange moon on the horizon, and with lakes in abundance in our region, a good eastern horizon isn't hard to find.
If you want to know when the moon rises over your neighborhood this weekend, go to the U.S. Naval Observatory website (aa.usno.navy.mil/data), select the link (data for the sun and moon for one day or the whole year) and specify your location. When the table pops up, be sure to add an hour for Daylight Saving Time to the times shown. For Duluth, the full moon eases up at 6:21 p.m. tonight or 30 minutes before sunset, 6:46 p.m. on Sunday and 7:14 p.m. Monday.
A harvest moon celebration is being held today at 6-8 p.m. at the breakwater at Agate Bay next to the lighthouse in Two Harbors. The free event features a bonfire, speakers and refreshments.
Happy gazing!
