Harvest Moon

It is fitting that September’s moon is called the Full Harvest Moon.  This full moon rises soon after sunset.  Imagine the days before electricity and you will realize how important that was.  It provided much-needed light for the farmer to harvest his crops.

Harvest Moon is the name given to the full moon closest to the fall equinox.  This usually happens in September but can even occur in October.  What is an equinox anyway?   It is when the sun sits directly above the equator and gives us an equal amount of daylight and darkness.  It happens twice a year–once in spring, once in the fall.  The word equinox comes from the Latin words for equal and night.  During that time we have 12 hours each, equal amounts of day and night.  The fall equinox is September 22 this year.