This Friday the 13th isn’t all that bad, as a glowing — but mini — full harvest moon will light up the night sky.
The full moon in September is known as a harvest moon — a name that might have originated from ancient Native American traditions or possibly even Anglo-Saxon or old Germanic languages, according to a report by Newsweek.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the full moon closest to the fall equinox — which this year takes place Sept. 23 — traditionally had a special significance for farmers who were in the middle of the harvest season because it enabled them to work later into the evenings.
“There are several nights in a row where, right after sunset, the moon will hang near the horizon,” Patrick Hartigan, an astrophysicist at Rice University in Houston, told NBC. “That’s why people used that as natural light to help them with the harvest.”
The harvest moon marks the official beginning of fall, according to a CNN report.
The harvest moon also has been referred to as a “micromoon” as it will appear about 14% smaller in the sky. This is because the moon is also nearing its apogee — the point in its nearly month-long elliptical orbit at which it is farthest away from Earth. Nevertheless, the moon will not appear significantly different in size to our eyes.
The moon will turn full this evening in the Hawaiian-Aleutian, Pacific, Mountain and Central time zones, but for those in the Eastern time zone, it will turn full just after midnight Saturday, according to the NBC report.
But Hartigan recommends heading out early to catch the moon as it emerges.
“I would go out soon after sunset — you want to try maybe a half hour after the sun goes down,” he told NBC. “You should be able to get a nice view of the moon for several nights in a row and watch it rise.”
The NBC report also said it’s rare for a full moon to coincide with Friday the 13th. The last time the two events aligned throughout the entire nation was Oct. 13, 2000. The next time will be Aug. 13, 2049.
