Hello, this is Mary Stewart Adams with The Storyteller’s Guide to the Night Sky.
Every year, the full moon that appears closest to Autumn Equinox is given the title Harvest Moon. It can come in either September or October. This year's Harvest Moon will appear on Monday in the southeast part of the sky.
It will appear at the eastern-most edge of the constellation Aquarius, in the region of the sky often referred to as the ‘watery’ region. This region is associated with the Deluge, with storm gods, and with water overflowing. In addition to Aquarius, the waterman, the watery region is home to the constellations Pisces, the Fish, Cetus, the whale, and the southern fish, Piscis Austrinus.
This ‘watery’ region of the sky is historically the region where the most asteroids are discovered, and most of these discoveries were made in the month of September. Asteroid discoveries are prolific here because there are very few stars in this region of the sky, making it easier to spot them. Scientists also say that asteroids are drawn closer to the Sun here because of the pull of the giant planet Jupiter, which also has its closest approach to the Sun when it moves through the ‘watery’ region of the sky.
On Monday evening, the Harvest Moon will rise at 7:42 pm in the east, and though it may appear quite large at the horizon, it will not achieve exact Full Phase for nearly two hours, at 9:38.
I’m Mary Stewart Adams, from Emmet County’s International Dark Sky Park at the Headlands