On the night of Sept. 8, a Harvest Moon that is also a supermoon will be visible in North America, as well as other parts of the world.

What is it?

According to EarthSky, a Harvest Moon is "the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox," which is on Sept. 23 in the Northern Hemisphere. As a result, the full moon seen from Sept. 8-9 is our hemisphere's Harvest Moon.

The Harvest Moon get its name because it doesn't rise later by 50 minutes every day, as is its average according to SPACE.com. Instead, the moon "rises only a little later each night, providing farmers with extra moonlit evenings to reap their crops."

The moon will also be considered a supermoon "because the moon turns full less than one day after reaching lunar perigee -- the moon's closest point to Earth for the month," EarthSky reports.

When should I look?

The moon reaches full phase at the moment that it is opposite the sun in the sky.

"The moon lies opposite the sun in our sky at the vicinity of full moon," EarthSky says. "Being opposite the sun, the moon is showing us its fully lighted hemisphere, or 'day' side. That's what makes the moon look full."

For North America, this will happen on Monday at 9:38 p.m. EDT, 8:38 p.m CDT, 7:38 p.m. MDT or 6:38 p.m. PDT.

According to EarthSky, the combination Harvest Moon and supermoon moon will also be visible in the majority of Asia.

"So the night of Sept. 8-9 has the brightest, fullest moon for the Americas," the site says. "Meanwhile, for the most of Asia, the moon turns precisely full during the daylight hours on Sept. 9. For all of us, by the night of Sept. 9-10, the moon will be waning. In fact, Sept. 8, 2014, is the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival in Asia, which is linked to this full moon."

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Follow Scharon Harding on Twitter: @ScharHar.

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