What is a corn moon? How September's full moon got its name, when you can see it
September’s full moon will be the last one of the summer.
Here are the details.
When is the next full moon?
The next full moon, a harvest moon, will be visible on Sept. 17 at 10:34 p.m., according to TimeandDate.com.
Ahead of the full moon, the first quarter moon will appear on Sept. 11 at 2:06 a.m., followed by the last quarter moon on Sept. 24 at 2:50 p.m. The new moon was on Sept. 2 at 9:56 p.m., according to the Almanac.
What is a corn moon? What is a harvest moon?
In September, the full moon is known as the corn moon and stems from Native American tribes harvesting corn during this time. A corn moon is also known as the “autumn moon,” “falling leaves moon,” “wine moon,” “barley moon” and “song moon” in Native American and Celtic cultures, according to Almanac.
September’s moon can also be the harvest moon, which is the first full moon occurring nearest to the autumnal equinox, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The harvest moon, a name given to whichever moon lands the closest to the September equinox around Sept. 22, typically occurs in September but occasionally lands in October around every three years.
The “harvest” moniker stems from the moonrise coming soon after sunset for several evenings. This results in an abundance of bright moonlight early in the evening, which has traditionally been a helpful resource for farmers and crews harvesting their summer-grown crops, according to Old Farmer’s Almanac.
September’s harvest moon is also the second supermoon of the year, the second of four consecutive ones, according to NASA.
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October full moon
Looking ahead, October’s full moon on Oct. 17 is the hunter’s moon and is named after the practice of hunting and preserving meats for the coming winter. Like September’s corn moon, if the hunter’s moon occurs closest to the fall equinox, it is called the harvest moon, TimeandDate.com reports.
Alternative names for the hunter’s moon are the “drying rice moon,” “sanguine moon,” “seed fall moon” and “blood moon” (which is not the same as the total lunar eclipse blood moon that is called such due to its reddish tinge).
(Editor's note: This story was updated because an earlier version included an inaccuracy.)
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This article originally appeared on Delaware News Journal: What is a harvest moon? The history of September's full moon