Check Out The Harvest Moon At Its Biggest, Brightest In New Jersey

NEW JERSEY — The full harvest moon that recently rose over New Jersey is truly something to sing about. Musicians from the Tin Pan Alley Era to modern times have crooned about it, and with good reason.

So, whether your musical tastes run from “Shine On, Harvest Moon” from the “Ziegfeld Follies” or Neil Young’s classic “Harvest Moon,” you should definitely check out these photos of the moon from a Westfield resident Friday night and Saturday morning.

Robert Fishberg sent these photos to Patch after his visit to Spring Lake Beach last weekend:

The harvest moon is a favorite on the lunar calendar because the best times to view it are so reliable. Normally, moonrise is about 50 minutes later each night of a full or nearly full moon phase. But the full harvest moon rises only an average of 25 minutes later each night in the United States, and as 10 and 20 minutes later farther north in Canada and Europe, according to NASA.

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The harvest moon doesn’t always rise in September, as it will this year. The harvest moon, a moniker assigned because it coincides with the fall harvest across North America, is the one that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox, which this year is on Thursday, Sept. 22.

The harvest moon is almost always in September, though there have been years when it has occurred in October.

“At equinox, due to the Earth’s tilt, the Moon rises a bit sooner than it does at other times of the year,” the Farmers’ Almanac explained. “As a result, farmers and gardeners receive extra light for gathering crops.”

Sometimes, the harvest moon looks more orange, but that has nothing to do with it being a harvest moon.

Both the moon and sun look redder when they’re near the horizon, according to Phys.org, which explained, “The reason for this is because we’re seeing them through the maximum thickness of atmosphere, which absorbs blue light and transmits red light.”

The next full moon will be the “hunter’s moon” on Oct. 9.

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