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Terry Eliasen
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Full Harvest Moon tonight and an eclipse!

In the words of the great Neil Young…

But there’s a full moon risin’
Let’s go dancin’ in the light
We know where the music’s playin’
Let’s go out and feel the night

One of my favorite full Moon’s of the year is Tonight…the Full Harvest Moon.

But this year, we are being treated to much, much more…

Are you ready for a “Super, Corn, Harvest, Full, Partial Eclipsed Moon” Tonight?

What fun!  Let’s go!

First things first…the Moon is officially full Tonight at 10:35pm.  The September full Moon is known as the “Harvest Moon” and also sometimes called the “Corn Moon” (for obvious reasons).

The Moon will officially rise tonight at 6:46pm, perfect timing!

Now on to the “Super” portion…

A Supermoon is simply a full Moon that occurs when the Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit (also known as perigee).  This tends to happen about 3-4 times each year (we get another one next month).  Supermoons look a bit larger and brighter than a typical full Moon.

Finally, we get one final treat as tonight’s Moon will also be partially eclipsed.

Don’t get too excited…as Lunar eclipses go, this one is going to be pretty minor.

At its peak, the Earth’s shadow will cover only 9% of the Moon’s diameter.  This means about 4% of the Moon’s surface will enter the umbra, the darkest portion of the Earth’s shadow.  Most of the action occurs in the penumbra tonight, a much lighter and partial shadow cast by Earth.  This will be barely noticeable to the naked eye.

The best time to view the eclipse would be between 10:12pm and 11:17pm, this is when the northern extent of the Moon will be in the umbra.

The clouds will also add a degree of difficulty tonight…

There will be a layer of high clouds moving in this evening and this will likely add a bit of a blurry veil to the event.

Still, if you happen to be outside tonight, say at Fenway Park for the Pearl Jam concert, it will definitely be worth taking a look!

If you happen to snap any pics, we would love to see them!  Send them to weather@wbztv.com



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