Harvest Moon: Full moon, supermoon and lunar eclipse in one event

Tuesday night brings not just the month’s full moon it will also be a supermoon and also a partial lunar eclipse.

The moon will appear in what Space.com called “a murky red-brown color” because the Earth will cast a shadow on part of the moon.

The timing of the partial lunar eclipse depends on where you are. For the Eastern Time Zone it will start at about 8:41 p.m. and have the most coverage at 10:44 p.m. with about 8% of the moon in full shadow, NASA said.

If that wasn’t enough, the moon will appear to be a supermoon, when it is at the closest point to Earth and appears to be brighter and larger than normal. There are four supermoons this year, August, September, October and November, Space.com said.

NASA said that in addition to being called the Harvest Moon, it also goes by several different names:

• Corn Moon
• Fruit Moon
• Barley Moon
• Reunion Festival Moon
• Potato Harvest Moon

It had names focusing on the harvest since crops planted in the summer would be at peak picking time and the full moon helped farmers work into the night, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

While most of the names center around the growing season, for Hindus, the moon is the end of Ganesh Chaturthi, a festival honoring the god Ganesha, and the start of Pitru Paksha, which is a 15-day festival that ends with the new moon.

For Buddhists in Bangladesh and Thailand, the moon is the focus of Madhu Purnima or the Honey Full Moon Festival.

In China, Vietnam and other Asian countries, the moon is part of the Mid-Autumn Festival that includes offerings to the Moon Goddess Chang’e, NASA said.

The next full moon, which will also be a supermoon, will be the Hunter’s Moon on Oct. 17, CNN reported.

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