Lucky Friday the 13th will feature rare harvest Moon

PENTICTON – This coming Friday has the potential to be a special evening on a couple of fronts, because it’s not only Friday the 13th, but it's also this year's Harvest Full Moon.

The next full moon will be early Saturday morning, Sept. 14, but the moon will appear full for about three days, from Thursday night through Sunday morning.

This Friday’s moon has a number of other monikers as well. It's also known in North America as a Harvest Moon, the Fruit Moon, the Barley Moon, the Corn Moon or my many other names, according to NASA.

A Harvest Moon is so designated because it is the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox or start of fall.

It’s been known as a Harvest Moon since 1706, according to the Oxford Dictionary, and it doesn’t always occur in September.

Full moons are relatively rare events on Friday the 13th. According to a Newsweek article, the last time a full moon occurred on Friday the 13th was in October 2000, and it won’t happen again until Aug. 13, 2049.

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