Take a moment to look into the night sky tonight. Amongst the darkness you will be able to find a very special moon which folklore has named Harvest Moon. For 2013, the Harvest Moon will make its appearance in North America on the night of Sept. 18 before sunrise on Sept. 19 and in Asia after sunset on Sept. 19.

Back in the days of folk tales and skylore, every full moon had its own name.

Wolf Moon, Worm Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Flower Moon, Strawberry Moon, Thunder Moon, Sturgeon Moon, Harvest Moon, Hunter's Moon, Beaver Moon and Long Night's Moon paid visits to the sky each month.

The Harvest Moon is the full moon which comes closest to the autumnal equinox, which is the official start of autumn. The autumnal equinox falls on Sept. 22 this year.

Before there were light bulbs, farmers only had the sun and the moon to give them light while they worked. During the late summer and early autumn, many crops would ripen, ready to harvest. The farmers had so many crops to harvest that they had to work past sundown. Moonlight became increasingly important in helping the farmers complete their harvest. Thus, the name Harvest Moon came to be.

The Harvest Moon is also special because it marks a time when the orbital path of the moon forms a narrow angle with the evening horizon. As a result, the moon rises only 30 minutes later than it did the day before. On every other day of the year the moon rises 50 minutes later the previous night.

Besides proving farmers with extra time to work, the Harvest Moon is special because of the brilliant show it puts on in the sky. Since the Harvest Moon lies so close to the horizon, more clouds and dust blanket its image, creating a red and orange glow. The Harvest Moon also looks massive because of what is known as the "moon illusion." The moon illusion makes moons look bigger to the human eye when they are low-hanging.

In the end, the moon ends up looking like a giant pumpkin in the sky, fitting for what the seasons have in store.

So take some time out of your busy day this evening to take a look at the glowing bright moon that symbolizes the coming of fall and the beauty of seasons.

Related