Full Moons of October
October 2020 :
Perhaps the most well-known Full Moon nickname, even well before Full Moon names became popular in the age of the internet, is the Harvest Moon. For generations, stories have been told, songs have been sung, and festivals have been held, to mark the annual occasion. The Harvest Moon, which usually occurs in September, is said to have aided farmers in the North American harvest due to the prevalence of its light in the early evening as the Sun sets earlier this time of year. Additionally, when the Moon is full near the autumnal equinox, the nearly Full Moon rises farther north on subsequent nights in mid-northern latitudes, thereby shortening the time between subsequent risings of the Moon, and offering its bright light to the farmers relatively early on nights following the Full Moon.
However, we didn’t observe a Harvest Moon in September, because the Harvest Moon is defined as the Full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox, whether it falls before or after. In 2020, that date is October 1st. Because September didn’t host a Harvest Moon in 2020, we instead observed a Full Corn Moon, which is the more traditional name for September’s Full Moon, as it coincides with the North American corn harvest season.
October Harvest Moons are fairly infrequent, with the next one occurring in 2028. Perhaps the phrase “once in a Blue Moon,” used to denote the rarity of something, should be changed to “once in an October Harvest Moon,” as Blue Moons occur approximately every three years.
While on the topic of Blue Moons, the most common way we define a Blue Moon is the occurrence of a second Full Moon in a single calendar month. One caveat to note, however, is that the “official” times given for lunar phases are in Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), which for us is four hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time, or five hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. This means that a Full Moon may appear during the last evening of a month for us, but actually occurs in the following month UTC. In October 2020, however, this is not the case, with the second Full Moon occurring at 14:49 UTC (10:49am EDT) on Halloween, the 31st, putting it comfortably within the month of October.
It is worth noting that a Halloween Full Moon will always be a Blue Moon, since subtracting the approximately 29.5 day lunar cycle from the beginning of the 31st day of October will place the previous Full Moon at the beginning of the month.
Finally, and not to be overlooked, the second Full Moon of October is also known by its traditional name, the Hunter’s Moon. With the Hunter’s Moon rising farther north than the Full Moons of the past several months, it shines higher and longer through the night, and is said to have aided hunters through recently harvested, barren fields, and thinning deciduous foliage to collect meat for their winter stores.
Whether your plans include harvesting, hunting, or participating in something spooky, here’s wishing your clear skies to enjoy the beauty of October’s Full Moons.
