Take a moment to gaze at the beautiful harvest moon this Saturday, September 29th.
(Image credit: NASA)
The harvest moon gets its name from agriculture. In the days before electric lights, farmers depended on bright moonlight to extend the workday beyond sunset. It was the only way they could gather their ripening crops in time for market. The full moon closest to the autumnal equinox became “the harvest moon,” and it was always a welcome sight.
Northern summer changed to fall last Saturday, Sept. 22nd, and is called the autumnal equinox. The word equinox comes from the Latin words for “equal night.” The fall and spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the Sun crosses the celestial equator.
Keep an eye on the moon as it creeps above the eastern skyline. The golden sphere may appear inflated. This is the moon illusion at work. This optical illusion is caused by the moon’s proximity to distant objects. A harvest moon inflated by the moon illusion is simply beautiful to us, but even more so to the farmers getting their crops in on those cool autumn evenings.
(Image credit: Stefano De Rosa)
Autumn’s Middle Festival is on of the most anticipated festival here in my country, happening in August 15th Lunar Calendar. Children carry lanterns celebrating on the street. Family members are getting together, having tea, talking and watching the beautiful full moon. This article makes me miss my family so much
I think that the NWS Radar Mosaic from 22:48 UTC to 23:58 UTC
caught some stragglers from the Orionid shower on their WEATHER radar.
I had NO idea this was even possible…but if you can check their logs
for that time frame, you will see a series of streaks appearing and
disappearing, starting from the NE and progressing toward the SW..at
what looks close to a 30 degree angle.
I saved the .html and files, if anyone wants a copy…
sorry…my previous comment was for 10/23/2012 22:48 – 23:58 …
(I left out the date before)
Really great…….