Harvest Moon 2018 – when was it, what is a lunar eclipse and why is it so rare?

MILLIONS of people craned their necks upward to watch the rare Harvest Moon lunar eclipse in 2016.

The natural phenomenon causes the moon to look bigger and darker. But was there an eclipse in 2018?

What is the Harvest Moon?

The Harvest Moon occurs every year.

It is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox (when the sun moves from the northern to the southern half of the sky, signalling the start of autumn in the UK).

This usually means it’s the September full moon, but it sometimes falls in early October.

The full harvest moon rises at sunset for several nights in a row, making it seem like there is a full moon for several days running.

Why is it called the Harvest Moon?

The Harvest Moon occurs at the start of autumn – just when farmers were traditionally beginning to harvest the crops they had been growing throughout spring and summer.

The bright moonlight from the giant moon helped the harvest crews to see.

This allowed them to work later.

What made 2016’s Harvest Moon so rare?

In 2016, the day the harvest moon rose also brought a penumbral lunar eclipse.

This is when the earth comes between the sun and the moon as it travels through space, stopping light from reaching the moon.

The moon shines because it reflects the sun’s light, so the phenomenon causes the moon to disappear from view or appear darker, depending where you are in the world.

In North and South America the moon disappeared, whereas in much of Europe it appeared to turn orange.

When is the next Harvest Moon lunar eclipse?

The Harvest Moon lunar eclipse is quite rare and won’t be seen again until 2024.

However, the annual Harvest Moon was on Tuesday, September 25, 2018.

In London, it was at its fullest at 3.52am.