Full moon on Friday the 13th tonight will be the first in 13 years

The spring full moon (in the southern hemisphere) is known as a harvest moon in the northern hemisphere, where it is almost autumn, reports the Alberton Record.

The name “harvest moon” is an old European term for a full moon that rises closest to the beginning of fall/autumn, according to NASA. The bright light of this moon usually allowed farmers more time to harvest their crops before the colder weather set in as it rises about 10 minutes after sunset. Most full moons rise about 50 minutes after the sun has set.

Micromoon

This 2019 September full moon will, however, appear unusually small and dimmer, which makes it a micromoon. That is as a result of the moon being at apogee – the point in its orbit where it is the farthest from Earth.

According to Timeanddate.com, a micromoon appears 14 percent smaller and 30 percent dimmer than the more sensational supermoons.

Although there is no universal definition of what qualifies as a supermoon or micromoon, Time and Date says micromoons must be more than 404,999 km away from Earth. Friday night’s moon will be 1,313 km farther than that.

The moon will appear full from 12 to 15 September

According to NASA, the moon should appear full from 12 September until the 15th, but it won’t be completely full until 9.30pm Pacific Standard Time on 13 September or 12.30am Eastern Time on Saturday, 14 September, but for all practical purposes it is considered full on Friday night. This was also the case in January 2006, when the moon rose the night of the 13th, but became full at 4:48am on the following day.