For Moon fans, September, 2016 will provide plenty of Moon action! The month begins and ends with a New Moon, with the Full Moon precisely sandwiched in between, on the 16th. See the Moon Phase dates below.

The bright morning ‘star’ you’ll see from the 24th to the 30th is Mercury, which will be hovering above the crescent Moon on the 29th.

September is known for the change it brings; this year’s Autumn Equinox ushers our part of the world from Summer to Fall on September 22, 2016 at 10:21 A.M. (ET). 

THE HARVEST MOON

The Full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox is named the Harvest Moon since, during this month, the Moon helps the harvest by providing more light at the right time than other Full Moons do. 

In years when the Harvest Moon falls in October, the September full Moon is usually known as the Full Corn Moon because it traditionally corresponds with the time of harvesting corn. It is also called the Barley Moon because this is the time to harvest and thresh the ripened barley. 

MORE SEPTEMBER MOON NAMES

• “Moon When the Plums Are Scarlet” by the Lakota Sioux Native Americans.
• “Moon When the Deer Paw the Earth” by the Omaha Native Americans.
• “Moon When the Calves Grow Hair” by the Sioux Native Americans

Learn more about Full Moon names and their traditional meanings.

Photo Credit: Almanac reader, Robin Osbon

MOON PHASES FOR SEPTEMBER 2016

Here are Moon phase dates and times (ET). See the Moon Phase Calendar for your city’s dates and times.

	New Moon: September 1, 5:03 A.M.
	First Quarter: September 9, 7:49 A.M.
	Full Moon: September 16, 3:05 P.M.
	Last Quarter: September 23, 5:56 A.M.
	New Moon: September 30, 8:11 P.M.

SEPTEMBER FULL HARVEST MOON VIDEO

Why does the Moon ride high or low? Find out the answer to this question–and learn more about September’s Full Moon in this entertaining video.

What is the “Harvest Moon,” and why is the Harvest Moon special? 

Astronomers define the Harvest Moon as the full Moon nearest the autumnal equinox, which often makes it the September full Moon. The Harvest Moon can also fall in early October, coming anywhere from two weeks before to two weeks after the equinox.

Why does it have special importance?

WHAT MAKES THE HARVEST MOON DIFFERENT?

The usual behavior of the Moon is to rise distinctly later each night—an average ofabout 50 minutes later each day.

If interested, here is the scientific explanation: The Moon’s orbital motion (combined with the larger orbit of the Earth around the Sun) carries it farther eastward among the constellations of the zodiac from night to night. At any one moonrise, the Moon occupies a particular place on the celestial sphere (the great dome of the heavens), but when the Earth turns toward that point 24 hours later, the Moon has moved off to the east about 12 degrees, and it takes an average of 50 minutes longer for the Earth to rotate toward the Moon and for the Moon thus to “rise.” Think of it as a giant Slinky in which each loop, representing one lunar orbit of the Earth, advances the orbit a bit farther along the spiral path.

But around the date of the Harvest Moon, the Moon rises about the same time. It may almost seem as if there are full Moons multiple nights in a row!

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Why? Remember that the zodiac is the band of constellations through which the Moon travels from night to night. The section of the zodiac band in which the full Moon travels around the start of autumn is the section that forms the most shallow angle with the eastern horizon. Because the Moon’s orbit on successive nights is more nearly parallel to the horizon at that time, its relationship to the eastern horizon does not change appreciably, and the Earth does not have to turn as far to bring up the Moon.

HARVEST MOON FACTS

The Moon may rise as little as 23 minutes later on several nights before and after the full Harvest Moon (at about 42 degrees north latitude), and there is an abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening, a traditional aid to harvest crews. By the time the Moon has reached last quarter, however, the typical 50-minute delay has returned.

At the start of spring, the opposite applies. The full Moon is in the section of the zodiac that has the steepest angle with respect to the eastern horizon. For several days bracketing the full Moon nearest the vernal equinox, the delay in moonrise is as much as 75 minutes (at 42 degrees north latitude).

Here is another way of expressing what happens with the Harvest Moon: It is in this part of the zodiac that the Moon’s eastward (orbital) motion has its largest northward component. For observers in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere, the farther north an object is in the heavens, the longer an arc it makes across the sky, and the longer a time it is visible above the horizon. Thus, to say that the Moon is getting rapidly farther north each night around the time of the Harvest Moon is to say that, for northern latitudes on Earth, it will keep rising distinctly earlier than would otherwise be expected—nearly the same time as the night before.