Harvest Moon Arrives Oct. 5

NARRAGANSETT, RI—The Harvest Moon arrives Oct. 5. Look for a bright pumpkin colored moon at 6:41 p.m., shortly after sunset at 6:18 p.m. The moon will rise close to sunset for three days this week, so it will seem as though October has three full moons. That's just one of the optical tricks the Harvest Moon is famous for playing.

NASA has a video explaining how the Harvest Moon acquired its name, why it's brightly colored and why it looks bigger than ordinary moons. (The dates in the video reference the Harvest Moon from a few years ago, but the rest of the information is relevant.) The name came from farmers working after sunset to harvest all the crops and working by the light of the moon. It appears bigger because it's close to the horizon.

Usually, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but this year, the October full moon came closest to the September equinox. It's not a Supermoon this year, but it will still be pretty spectacular.

Courtesy Photo of NASA's Harvest Supermoon