Harvest Moon Trail

Famed in festival, story, and song the best known full moon is the Lunar Surface Harvest Moon.

For northern hemisphere dwellers that’s a traditional name of the full moon nearest the September Equinox.

Seen from Saunderstown, Rhode Island, planet Earth, this Harvest Moon left a broad streak of warm hues as it rose through a Night Sky over the Newport Bridge.

On September 20 its trail was captured in a single 22 minute exposure using a dense filter and a digital camera. Only two days later the September Equinox marked a change of season and the beginning of autumn in the north. In fact, recognizing a season as the time between solstice and equinox, this Harvest Moon was the fourth full moon of the season, coming just before the astronomical end of northern summer.