Easy run this morning; U of U, upper Avenues, Memory Grove. I felt slug slug sluggish for the first 5 miles. Then biobreak and all was well after that. I will devote the rest of today's entry to the wikipedia explanation of a Harvest Moon, which was in full effect this morning: The Harvest Moon is the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox, which occurs (in the northern hemisphere) on or about September 23rd, and in the southern hemisphere on or about March 21st. Its physical characteristics - rising time, path across the sky - are similar to those of the Hunter's moon.
All full moons have their own special characteristics based primarily on the whereabouts of the ecliptic
in the sky at the time of year that these moons are visible. The full
moons of September, October and November as seen from the northern
hemisphere - which correspond to the full moons of March, April and May
as seen from the southern hemisphere - are well known in the folklore
of the sky. All full moons rise around the time of sunset. However,
although in general the moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, as
it moves in orbit around Earth, the Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon are
special, because around the time of these full moons, the time
difference between moonrise on successive evenings is shorter than
usual. In other words, the moon rises approximately 30 minutes later,
from one night to the next, as seen from about 40 degrees N. or S.
latitude, for several evenings around the full Hunter's or Harvest
Moons. Thus there is no long period of darkness between sunset and
moonrise around the time following these full moons. In times past this
feature of these autumn moons was said to help farmers working to bring
in their crops (or, in the case of the Hunter's Moon, hunters tracking
their prey). They could continue being productive by moonlight even
after the sun had set. Hence the name Harvest (or Hunter's) Moon.
The reason for the shorter-than-usual rising time between successive
moonrises around the time of the Harvest and Hunter's Moon is that the ecliptic - or plane of Earth's orbit around the sun - makes a narrow angle with respect to the horizon in the evening in autumn.
The Harvest Moon can come before or after the autumnal equinox.
It is simply the full moon closest to that equinox. About once every
four years it occurs in October, depending on the cycles of the moon.
Currently, the latest the Harvest Moon can occur is on October 8.
Between 1900 and 2010 the Harvest Moon falls on October 7 in 1930,
1949, 1987, 2006, and on October 8 in 1911.
Many cultures celebrate with gatherings, festivals, and rituals that are intricately attuned to the Harvest Moon or Hunter's Moon.
It is claimed by some that the Harvest Moon seems to be somehow
bigger or brighter or yellower in color than other full moons. This is
an illusion. The yellow or golden or orangish or reddish color of the
moon shortly after it rises is a physical effect, which stems from the
fact that, when you see the moon low in the sky, you are looking at it
through a greater amount of atmosphere than when the moon is overhead.
The atmosphere scatters the bluish component of white moonlight (which
is really reflected sunlight) but allows the reddish component of the
light to travel a straighter path to your eyes. Hence all moons (and
stars and planets) look reddish when they are low in the sky.
As for the large size of a full moon when seen low in the sky, it is
true that the human eye sees a low hanging moon as being larger than
one that rides high in the sky. This is known as a Moon Illusion and can be seen with any full moon. It can also be seen with constellations; in other words, a constellation viewed low in the sky will appear bigger than when it is high in the sky.
The Harvest Moon is also known as the Wine Moon, the Singing Moon and the Elk Call Moon. In myth and folklore
the full moon of each month is given a name. There are many variations
but the following list gives the most widely known names:
The third full moon in a season with four full moons is called a blue moon, as described in the Maine Farmer's Almanac. Until recently it was commonly misunderstood that the second full moon in a month was the blue moon. However, it was recently discovered by Sky & Telescope Magazine and reported on NPR that the interpretation of a blue moon
as the second full moon of the month was erroneously reported in an
issue of Sky & Telescope dating back to 1946 and then perpetuated
by other media.
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