This year’s harvest moon promises to be beautiful, and extremely festive.
That’s because British Columbia’s skies will be lit with an orange lunar luminance rather than a pearly glow. The spectacle rings in the fall season, taking place a couple weeks before or after the Autumnal Equinox.
It is the first full moon of fall, and looks extraordinarily large because of its proximity to the horizon. This year’s rare celestial show appears around October 5th, but takes place over the course of a few nights rather than just one.
While it won’t be quite as astonishing as August’s total lunar eclipse, it is a truly enchanting display.
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A Festive Harvest Moon
Earthsky describes how, “The orange color of a moon near the horizon is a true physical effect. It stems from the fact that – when you look toward the horizon – you are looking through a greater thickness of Earth’s atmosphere than when you gaze up and overhead. The atmosphere scatters blue light – that’s why the sky looks blue. The greater thickness of atmosphere in the direction of a horizon scatters blue light most effectively, but it lets red light pass through to your eyes. So a moon near the horizon takes on a yellow or orange or reddish hue.”
This angle with the sun also means that stargazers are privy to multiple moonrises rather than one. Sometimes it even appears like there is more than one moon in the sky during this rare display.
Superstitions have long maintained that full moons conjure up many weird occurrences; however, ancient lore insists that the harvest moon is particularly even more potent.
Whether the tales are true or not, it is still a unique and lovely sight to behold.
