Talk:Harvest moon

equinox
This is wrong - there is no, and never has been, any rule that the first day of a season has to be a 'full day'. The first day of autumn is the day of the equinox - no matter what time it occurs. So for example the first day of autumn 2010 for the east coast is Sept. 22 because the equinox falls at 11:09 pm (EDT). —Preceding unsigned comment added by Kdconod (talk • contribs) 03:01, 22 September 2010 (UTC)

this cannot be
Article:However, although in general the moon rises about 50 seconds later each day,...

The moon circles the earth in about one month so it has to be much more then 50s - the moon 'moves' aprox. 1/30 of a day every day = 48 minutes - mayby the writer actually meant minutes insted of seconds.

62.47.25.22 (talk) 17:02, 11 October 2009 (UTC)

How can the harvest moon have happened in 2025? I think that sentence requires a re-write.

Moon names
I'm not very knowledgeable about moon names, but I looked them up and each culture seems to have developed their own names. The names on the article's list, however, seem to be from a mix of various naming systems. -- Kjkolb 14:04, 21 November 2005 (UTC)

blue moon - wrong
the blue moon is:

An older definition for the blue moon is recorded in early issues of the Maine Farmer's Almanac. According to this definition, the blue moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. Why would one want to identify the third full moon in a season of four full moons? The answer is complex, and has to do with the Christian ecclesiastical calendar.

Some years have an extra full moon—thirteen instead of twelve. Since the identity of the moons was important in the ecclesiastical calendar (the Paschal Moon, for example, used to be crucial for determining the date of Easter), a year with a thirteenth moon skewed the calendar, since there were names for only twelve moons. By identifying the extra, thirteenth moon as a blue moon, the ecclesiastical calendar was able to stay on track.

For a fuller explanation see http://www.inconstantmoon.com/cyc_blue.htm. For more background information on the controversy over the two definitions of blue moon, see the Sky and Telescope article, "What's a Blue Moon?" In it they explain how the two different definitions of a blue moon came about—including their own role in introducing the second, modern definition.

copied from http://www.infoplease.com/spot/bluemoon1.html

Harvest moon
How long does the harvest moon last, and why is it called the harvest moon?

Harvest Moon in 2006
If the Harvest Moon is the closest to the Autumnal Equinox, then it occurs in October in 2006 as well.

Full Moon on September 7th 2006 18:42 UTC (according to )

date +"%s" --date "9/7/2006 18:42 UTC" = 1157654520 seconds since 00:00:00 1970-01-01 UTC

Autumnal Equinox on September 23rd 2006 04:03 UTC (according to )

date +"%s" --date "9/23/2006 04:03 UTC" = 1158984180 seconds

Full Moon on October 7th 2006 03:13 UTC (according to )

date +"%s" --date "10/7/2006 03:13 UTC" = 1160190780 seconds


 * 1158984180 - 1157654520 = 1329660 seconds between September's Full moon and the Autumnal Equinox


 * 1160190780 - 1158984180 = 1206600 seconds between the Autumnal Equinox and October's Full Moon

therefore it's closer to October's Full moon than September's in 2006?

(Linux Date function used for time calculations)

- Grey [October 6th 2006 17:24 EDT]

Closest, or following?
If we accept the aforementioned Sky & Telescope description of the moon names, it sounds like each moon gets named in a sequence with whichever one follows the winter solstice being the Moon After Yule, whichever one follows the spring equinox being the Paschal Moon used in calculating easter, and so forth. (The accuracy of these names is why the Farmer's Almanac [Blue Moon] is the third, rather than fourth, full moon in a season with four - making it the fourth turns out to make there sometimes be a Blue Moon between the Moon Before Yule and Yule.) Such a pattern doesn't also allow a moon to be defined as "closest to the autumn equinox"; it would have to be "after the autumn equinox" or "before the autumn equinox" without being more complicated than my understanding suggests it is. Which is correct?

-- The article says "nearest to the autumnal equinox", which is clearly wrong. The Harvest, Cold, Worm, and Strawberry moons are the first full moons after the equinox or solstice. Consider the last few months of 2010 (times in UTC, depending upon source might be a few minutes different): Sep 23 3:09  Equinox Sep 23 9:18  Harvest Moon * Oct 23 1:36  Hunter's Moon Nov 21 17:27 Blue Moon Dec 21 7:15  Beaver Moon Dec 21 23:38 Solstice Jan 21 21:21 Cold Moon *

Harvest Moon is both closest and first after the Equinox. But even though there was a moon very close the the Solstice, it didn't count as the Cold Moon because it occurred before, not after. So the Cold moon (associated with the solstice) was postponed until January and a Blue Moon inserted before the Beaver Moon.

I.e. the four key moons are the first full moons after the equinox or solstice, and not the closest thereto. I.e. the first line of this article was incorrect. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.97.111.99 (talk) 18:56, 21 December 2010 (UTC)

Harvest Moon video game disambiguation
Suggested reference and softography of the 'Harvest Moon' series of games.

retracted
retracted browser ate part of the page.

Hunter's Moon discrepancy?
I noticed that the Hunter's moon page has a slightly different definition of the Harvest Moon. Which is right? 204.15.100.52 (talk) 15:40, 15 September 2008 (UTC)

Narrow angle of ecliptic to horizon
It seems a common misconception that the moon is at its lowest in the sky at the harvest moon. The plane of the ecliptic is at its flatest to the horizon at moonrise and moonset at the vernal and autumnal equinox, causing the small change in moonrise + moonset times, but the full moon's path across the sky is at its middle height. It's path is lowest near the summer equinox and highest near the winter equinox, right? I'm ready to be proved wrong, but I've checked on several simulations. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.35.42.114 (talk) 01:14, 4 October 2009 (UTC)
 * That sounds mixed up. In the northern hemisphere, the ecliptic makes a shallow angle near sunset (and thus full moonrise) around the autumnal equinox. It makes a steep angle at sunrise (and thus full moonset). The reverse is true near the vernal equinox, and in the southern hemisphere. So around the autumnal equinox, day to day changes in northern hemisphere full moonrises are short, while day to day changes in moonsets are long. The rest of what you say is correct though: The full moon's declination in the summer is lower; in the winter it's higher. — Aldaron • T/C 04:40, 5 October 2009 (UTC)


 * I don't think there's a summer or winter equinox, but summer (June) and winter (Dec.) solstices, and vernal (spring - Mar.) and autumnal (Sep.) equinoxes. Ty Pritchett (talk) 07:55, 13 September 2011 (UTC)typritc (talk) 07:40, 13 September 2011 (UTC)

Not enough info/ fake name?
Someone put in "it has to do with the atmosphere". I don't know if this is vandalism or not I removed it. If it isn't I am terribly sorry and I will glady put it back, just with a little more information.

Also someone put "special thanks to Ethan Wolfenstaff" this is a fake name if I ever heard one. Please correct me if I'm wrong —Preceding unsigned comment added by D.R. Pepper M.D. (talk • contribs) 22:45, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

Honey moon
Removed link because it went to an unrelated article on honeymoon, meaning a wedding trip. Rmrwiki (talk) 03:39, 16 June 2011 (UTC)

Definition is clearly wrong
Definition is clearly wrong. "The Full Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox."

Taking the Fall Equinox on it's normal date September 22. Lets assume there's a Full Moon on the day before equinox September 21, that would make the Harvest Moon be the 3rd Moon of Summer. However if there's a Full Moon on September 23, then according to this definition the Harvest Moon would be the 1st Moon of Fall that year. Ikmxx (talk) 17:25, 26 February 2013 (UTC)


 * Basically what I'm saying is that the Harvest Moon is either a September-sometimes-August Moon in Summer or an October-sometimes-September Moon in Fall (For the Northern Hemisphere) Ikmxx (talk) 03:20, 28 February 2013 (UTC)

"Harvest Moon" only becomes a well defined term due to the Farmer's Almanac, and in that sense it is whatever the FA says it is (but FA doesn't seem to be able to make up its mind if it is the September moon, or the moon closest to equinox). There is the question of notability though, and I suggest this should just be merged into a brief entry at Farmers' Almanac full moon names. --dab (𒁳) 12:21, 3 May 2013 (UTC)

turns out the name is older, early 18th century. Should be discussed together with Hunter's Moon. --dab (𒁳) 12:33, 3 May 2013 (UTC)