News

Harvest Moon Tonight! Two Full Moons In October, Rare Blue Moon on Halloween

As if 2020 couldn’t get any weirder, this October will see not one, but two full moons – and the second falls on Halloween.

October’s first full moon will be on Oct. 1 and will be the harvest moon, which is the name given to the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox. Typically, the full harvest moon occurs in September, but the Sept. 2 full moon this year was too early to make the cut. Last year’s harvest moon occurred on Friday, Sept. 13.

The harvest moon got its name from the practice of harvesting crops under the light of the full moon, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. During the harvest moon, the moon will appear full for about three days.

October will then close out with another full moon, on the night of Halloween. This will be a rare blue hunter’s moon. A blue moon is a second full moon in the same month. It occurs once every two or three years, which is how the phrase “once in a blue moon” originated. A hunter’s moon is the name for the next full moon after the harvest moon.

A full moon on Halloween, which would automatically be a blue moon, in every time zone hasn’t happened since 1944. In some time zones, however, a full moon occurs on Halloween every 19 years.

On Halloween, the moon will rise at 10:49 a.m. EDT. It will also mark the last day of Daylight Saving Time, meaning our clocks will need to be set back by an hour at 2 a.m. on Nov. 1.

Yati Sanghvi

I'm a Journalism and Media Studies student at Rutgers University, with a focus on music and political coverage.

Recent Posts

‘Empire’ Star Jussie Smollett’s Conviction Overturned For Faking 2019 Hate Crime

Smollett’s lead attorney Nenye Uche said the case should have never gone to trial in…

4 hours ago

Billy Ray Cyrus Praise Beyoncé After She’s Snubbed By The CMAs

A 2023 study found that black women received just barely 0.03% of radio station airplay,…

4 hours ago

VIDEO: Footage Shows Ukraine Striking Command Post Deep In Russian Territory Using Long-Range British Missiles

The Ukrainian Armed Forces said it targeted a Russian military command post on the grounds of a…

6 hours ago

Rachel Maddow Takes $5 Million Pay Cut In New MSNBC Contract As Ratings Plunge – Will Earn ‘Just’ $25 Million A Year

In the days after Donald Trump's victory, MSNBC's ratings dropped by 54%, and since the…

7 hours ago

VIDEO: Firefighters Use Zip Line To Help Dog & Its Owner Across A Swollen River

https://youtu.be/hc4915dr-fk Firefighters in northern Honduras used a zip line to help a dog and its…

8 hours ago

After Living In An RV, Tori Spelling & Her 5 Kids Move Into A $12,000-A-Month Rental

As Spelling's financial statements continue to contradict each other, it is impossible to determine where…

9 hours ago