October is a pretty big month as far as full moons are concerned, with the harvest moon rising on Thursday, followed by a rare blue moon on Halloween night.
The harvest moon is the full moon that appears closest to the official start of autumn, which was September 22nd this year.
“The name dates from the time before electricity, when farmers depended on the moon’s light to harvest their crops late into the night,” according to NASA. “The moon’s light was particularly important during fall, when harvests are the largest.”
This week’s harvest moon peaks at 5:06pm, eastern time, on Thursday afternoon.
Viewing conditions will depend on the weather and skies over Beaufort and the rest of the Lowcountry. The moon will look full for a day before and a day after its peak.
Halloween’s blue moon is actually pretty rare, despite that many of the Halloween scenes you see on decorations, etc., also include a full moon.
Despite what we see in the media culture, a full moon on Halloween night is quite a rare occurrence; happening once every 18 or 19 years in any given part of the world.
The last blue moon on Halloween across all time zones in the United States was in 1944, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.
The Halloween full moon will also be known as the “hunter’s moon,” which is the first full moon to follow the harvest moon.
“This is the month when the game is fattened, and it is time to start preparing for the coming winter,” according to timeanddate.com. “Traditionally, this included hunting, slaughtering and preserving meats for use in the coming winter months.”
The Halloween hunter’s blue moon will peak at 10:49am eastern time.
