When is the Harvest Moon?

marianneliz | Sep 25, 2010 |

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The Harvest Moon is known as the Full Moon in September, the Elk Call Moon, Wine Moon and the Singing Moon. The harvest moon is repeatedly mistaken for the modern day hunter's moon. Actually, the Harvest Moon refers to the full moon that occurs nearest to the equinox in September. This basically means that the Harvest Moon can often be seen in September but can also occur in October.

When is the Harvest Moon?

The autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere falls on September 22 or 23 each year. Therefore, the Harvest Moon will occur on the following dates:

September 23, 2010
September 12, 2011
September 29, 2012
September 19, 2013
September 9, 2014
September 28, 2015
September 16, 2016
October 5, 2017
September 25, 2018
September 14, 2019
October 1, 2020

The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs nearest to the fall equinox in the Northern Hemisphere. About once every four years it occurs in October (in the northern hemisphere), depending on the moon cycles.

The Difference between the Harvest Moon and the Hunter's Moon

Frequently, the Harvest Moon is the full moon in September and the Hunter's Moon is the full moon in October. The Hunter's Moon is the full moon which follows after the Harvest Moon, therefore the Hunter's Moon can occur in November.

As it moves in orbit around Earth, the Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are remarkable in that, around the time of these half moons, the time difference between moonrise on successive evenings is shorter than typical. In olden times, they were used to help farmers working to bring in their crops.

Thus, the full moon in October is either the Harvest Moon or the Hunter's Moon. In 2020, it is both. When the full moon occurs on October 1, 2020, it will be the Harvest Moon. On October 31, 2020, another full moon within this month will then be called the Hunter's Moon and also a Blue Moon, being the second full moon in a calendar month. This means that October 2020 will come after the Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon, and Blue Moon.

Typically, the harvest moon seems to be bigger or brighter or more colorful than other full moons. The warm color of the moon shortly after it rises is caused by light from the moon passing through a large amount of atmospheric particles as compared to when the moon is overhead.