The traditional calm of the Harvest Moon would be especially welcome this year it might even usher in a long, benign autumn. Regardless, we have had a tempestuous summer complete with extreme heat and raging wildfires in the West, and frequent rains with occasional tropical cyclones passing through in the East. Still, if the moon governs the tides in the Earth's vast oceans, might it also be a consequence in the behavior of our atmosphere? In his Treatise on Meteorology, written in 1868, Elias Loomis told of a "feeble lunar tide in the atmosphere, similar to that of the ocean." Today, scientists believe that if such a tide exists it is so slight that no effect is exerted on our weather. In Eric Sloane's Almanac and Weather Forecaster, is a poem that reads: What the Harvest Moon means, early or late, is rarely, if ever, discussed by meteorologists. By this standard, the 2021 "summer" Harvest Moon is too early, although coming less than two days before the official start of fall, they just might go along with the Harvest branding. While calendars and almanacs proclaim that Harvest Moon branding goes to the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox, that is the logic of the astronomer those who have lived out their lives in the country would more likely call it an absurdity to these folks, the "rural" Harvest Moon cannot, and should not occur until after equinox. (Image credit: Stuart McNair) Effects on weather? In this photo by Stuart McNair, the rising Harvest Moon illuminates farmland during sunset on Sept. Of these three cases, only 1991 saw autumn arrive first, followed about 10 hours later by the occurrence of the full moon. In 2029, the moon will turn full only 69 minutes before the official start of autumn. We found only three such cases: in 1991, 20. Of course, a "true" Harvest Moon would be one that coincides with the date of the autumnal equinox. Our next October Harvest Moon will be Oct. There were October moons in 20 (three years apart) and after 2028, the next one won't come until 2036 (eight years later). October Harvest Moons occur on average once every five years, although there are variations. 7 - the latest possible date for a Harvest Moon - has only occurred just once, in 1987. Notice, incidentally, how each case is separated by 19 years, the so-called Metonic cycle named for Greek mathematician, astronomer, geometer, and engineer, Meton of Athens, who lived in Athens in the 5th century BC. 8 - the earliest for a possible Harvest Moon - has occurred a maximum of four times, in 1972, 1995, 20. Interestingly, at opposite ends of the timeline, Sept. Conversely, there's only one date on which a Harvest Moon did not occur even once during our 80-year sampling: Sept. 8 through October 7th timeframe have seen a Harvest Moon at least three times, but there were four dates in which a Harvest Moon occurred as many as four times (the most frequent number possible during our 80-year sampling). So, we did a check for all the full moons occurring closest to the September equinox during an 80-year time frame and this is what we found:ĭuring the years that we examined, the majority of dates in the Sept. His book lists the dates for all equinoxes and solstices for the years 1 to 3000 AD and phases of the moon from 1970 to 2050. Which date or dates are most likely to have a Harvest Moon? And which dates are least likely to have one? To answer these and other calendar-related questions, we referred to the book "Astronomical Tables for the Sun, Moon and Planets" by celestial calculator extraordinaire, Jean Meeus. Thus, there is a 29-day interval when we can designate a particular late-summer or early fall full moon as a Harvest Moon. 23, means that we can have the Harvest Moon come as early as Sept. Since the September equinox vacillates between Sept. In properly branding a full moon as a Harvest Moon, we need to go up to two weeks before or up to two weeks after the date of the equinox. EDT (2355 GMT) on Monday, or 1.8 days before the official start of the autumn season with the equinox on Wednesday (Sept. The moon will officially turn full at 7:55 p.m. This year's Harvest Moon actually occurs during the summer season.
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