This evening will be a Super Harvest Moon, as the sun will set as the moon rises. Today is the first time in two decades that we'll have this phenomenon, when the "autumnal equinox phenomenon will create a strange 360-degree twilight show as the moon will rise in one direction while the sun will set on the opposite direction" (as one website said). Watch for it around 6:45pm.
The moon will also look orange and gigantic, due to the "Moon illusion."
What is a "Harvest Moon"? Apparently, before electricity, farmers needed the moonlight to extend their workday and get all their ripening crops to market. The full moon closest to the autumnal equinox is "the Harvest Moon."
As a bonus phenomenon, summer officially ends at 11:09pm Eastern Time, when Jupiter will appear right next to the Moon.
Cool!
Thursday, September 23, 2010
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