The full moon, which indicates the onset of the harvest season, showed up in October, keeping moon gazers waiting
If you thought it was only the monsoon that seem to be going on till late in the calendar year this time, moon gazers have also experienced a similar, but unusually late 'Harvest Moon' this year on October 5.âu00c2u0080u00c2u0088It usually occurs in September. Defined as the full moon that falls closest to the autumn equinox, which occurred last month, the Harvest moon occurs in the month of September. However, this year, the October's full moon that was closer to the date of the equinox, was considered the Harvest moon of 2018.
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According to Dr Arvind Paranjpye, director of Nehru Planetarium, this phenomenon is not unusual. He said it was because of the difference in the number of days between the lunar calendar and calendar year. "This is a cyclic thing. We have 30-31 days in a normal calendar month. But, according to the lunar calendar, each month has around 29 days. This leaves us with a gap of some days at the end of the year, because of which the date of such celestial events shift."
Paranjpye described the Harvest Moon as the full moon that indicates the celebration of the onset of the harvest season. "Harvesting a crop is very hard work. During the Harvest moon, farmers go out into their fields and collect their grains and crops that are ready to be harvested, after which they take some time off and celebrate the coming of winter," he said. The full moon also proves to be a strong source of natural light during nighttime, which is why many people use this monthly event as a reason to take a nighttime hike or stroll. It it is also a chance to look upon some major features on the surface of the moon, many which are visible even without a telescope.
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