HOUSTON – Tuesday night’s full moon will be spectacular for a number of reasons. It will appear bigger and brighter. We’ll have clear skies in Southeast Texas. And there will also be a partial lunar eclipse!
The September full moon is called the “Corn Moon,” and the full moon closest to the Autumnal Equinox (September 22 this year) is called the “Harvest Moon.” That means on Tuesday night we will have a corn moon that is also the harvest moon!
Partial Lunar Eclipse:
A partial lunar eclipse happens when the earth passes between the sun and a full moon, creating a shadow on the moon! This will happen on Tuesday night with 8% of the top of the full moon covered (will look like a red shadow) at 9:44 PM CT.
Supermoon:
A “supermoon” is defined as the moon reaching its complete phase at perigee. Perigee is the closest point of the moon to the Earth in its rotation. The moon travels around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, not a perfect circle. This creates a near point and a far point. If the moon is within 90% of this closest point it, is considered a supermoon.
Between 1900 and 2050, the moon has reached full phase close enough to perigee 19 times, or an average of once about every eight years, which, again, isn’t all that rare.
The irony:
The term supermoon isn’t a scientific term. Astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term in 1979. Since then, the name has been accepted by the scientific community.
We’d love to see your pictures of the Super Harvest Moon. Please share them with us on Click2Pins or tag me at @kprc2anthony on Facebook, Instagram or X.
