harvest moon Archives - View from the Front Porch

8 09, 2025

September Moons

By judythemorgan|2025-09-08T09:22:39-05:00September 8th, 2025|Make Me Think Monday|1 Comment

One of my favorite things about September is the big, bright moons. Seems like you can almost reach out and touch them.

Last night, we had a Corn Moon, named because it coincides with harvesting corn in much of the northern United States.

A Corn Moon symbolizes the time of harvest and gratitude, marking the end of summer and the transition into autumn. It encourages reflection on what has been grown in life, both physically and spiritually, and invites letting go of what no longer serves you.

There was also a total lunar eclipse in the middle of the day. Unfortunately, the moon was below our horizon in the United States, so we missed it.

But parts of Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, Antarctica, the western Pacific, and the Indian Ocean – around 85% of Earth’s population – were in the eclipse-viewing zone. During a total eclipse, the moon can turn a deep shade of red then it’s called a Blood Moon.

Here’s a Harvest Moon setting above the Statue of Liberty, taken by Nicholas Isabella (@NycStormChaser) on September 10, 2022.

The September 7 Corn Moon looks like a Harvest Moon, though it wasn’t called a harvest moon.

The Harvest Moon – the closest full moon to the autumn equinox – has a reputation for being bigger, brighter, and more yellow than other full moons. It’s not truly bigger, brighter, or more pumpkin-colored than other full moons. It just appears to be.

The reason: our moon normally rises on average 50 minutes later every day as the year moves on. A Harvest Moon rises only 30 minutes later. Those twenty minutes make a difference in how big the moon appears.

The name Harvest likely sprang from the lips of farmers who, in the days before tractor lights, used its light to gather their crops, despite the diminishing daylight hours. Then, as the light faded in the west, the moon would soon rise in the east to illuminate the fields throughout the night.

The recent Corn Moon was the third and final full moon of our Northern Hemisphere summer, which has three full moons between the June 21 solstice and September 22 equinox.

If you missed the Corn Moon, hang on because on October 6-7, a Harvest Moon will appear. Don’t miss that one.

One of my Favorite Fall Things

By judythemorgan|2022-09-24T16:47:14-05:00September 26th, 2022|Make Me Think Monday|2 Comments

One of my favorite things about September is the moon. It’s always big and bright and seems so close. Moonlight guides my early morning walks with Finnegan.

It’s called a harvest moon.

The name likely sprang from the lips of farmers who, in the days before tractor lights, used its light to gather their crops, despite the diminishing daylight hours. As the light faded in the west, the moon would soon rise in the east to illuminate the fields throughout the night.

It’s not truly bigger, brighter, or more pumpkin-colored than other full moons. It just appears to be.

Our moon normally rises on average 50 minutes later every day as the year moves on. A Harvest Moon rises only 30 minutes later. Those twenty minutes make a difference in how big the moon appears.

The Harvest moon isn’t associated with a specific month like other full moons. The moon that rises closest to the autumnal equinox, is called the Harvest Moon.

That was September 10 this year and the night sky put on a dazzling lunar display for skywatchers around the world. Did you see it? If not, check out this Twitter post from Nicholas Isabella.

This morning’s Harvest moon setting above the Statue Of Liberty. It was worth waking up early for this. pic.twitter.com/fI55XbIF5K

— Nicholas Isabella (@NycStormChaser) September 10, 2022

You can enjoy other fabulous Harvest Moon shots from around the world here.

HARVEST MOON – One Word Wednesday

By judythemorgan|2013-09-25T06:21:37-05:00September 25th, 2013|one word Wednesday|0 Comments

SOURCE: http://www.space.com/22882-harvest-moon-photos-september-full-moon-2013.html

Anthony Lynch snapped this photo of the 2013 Harvest Moon at Phoenix Park in Dublin, Ireland. Lovely isn’t it?

This year’s Harvest Moon arrived on my birthday September 18. The lunar orb lit the night and continued to be awesome for days, which led to some research on the moon.

Here’s what I learned:

The moon rises on average 50 minutes later everyday as the year moves on. The Harvest Moon rises only 30 minutes later. The earlier rise offers more light.
The full moon that rises closest to the autumnal equinox — this year’s official start of autumn was September 22 — is called the Harvest Moon.
The name Harvest probably sprang from the lips of farmers because, in the days before tractor lights, the lamp of the Harvest Moon helped farmers to gather their crops, despite the diminishing daylight hours. As the sun’s light faded in the west, the moon would soon rise in the east to illuminate the fields throughout the night.
Nora Bayes’ and Jack Norworth’s 1903 song titled Shine On Harvest Moon popularized the name. Here’s a great clip of Laurel and Hardy singing and dancing to the tune from their 1939 movie “Flying Deuces.”

A Harvest Moon is not truly bigger, brighter, or more pumpkin-colored than other full moons. It just appears to be.

NASA’s Dr. Tony Phillips explains why: “For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, a low-hanging Moon appears much wider than it really is. A Harvest Moon inflated by the moon illusion is simply gorgeous. The view improves as the night wears on.”

I captured the Harvest Moon with my camera.

Not so great, but you can see some fabulous pictures here.

All these pictures make me think a Harvest Moon would be great setting for a romance scene.

What do you think?