Shine on, Shine on, Harvest Moon!

This Saturday — Sept. 29 — there are a few showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. I am hoping the clouds clear long enough for you to get a gander at this year’s Harvest Moon.

The Harvest Moon is the full moon that is nearest to the Autumnal Equinox which was last Saturday. It will be full on Saturday night at 9:19 PM.

In most years, the Harvest Moon rises close to sunset and tends to look larger and is orange tinted when it first comes up. The larger look is an optical illusion called the “Moon Illusion” that makes it look larger when it is close to the horizon.

The orange color is due to your eye looking through more atmosphere. This added atmosphere scatters the blue colors of the spectrum and allows, more reds and oranges to make it through to you. As a result, the moon looks orange when it rises. Later in the evening it returns to its silvery color when it is overhead and we are looking through less atmosphere.

Stephen Johnson of Centennial took this photo of the harvest moon on Sept. 29, 2012.