Abstract
Harvest Moon In consequence of its orbital motion round the earth, the moon rises and sets later each day. The average difference from day to day is about 48 minutes, but owing to the difference of about five degrees between the plane of the moon?s orbit and that of the earth?s equator, the intervals between the times of rising from one day to the next, and between the times of setting, vary widely. Near the autumnal equinox the difference between the times of successive risings may be less than 15 minutes for several days about full moon. In 1933, for example, the moon is full on October 3 and the time of rising changes only from 4.33 p.m. (G.M.T.) on September 30 to 5.23 p.m. on October 4. This phenomenon is known as the?Harvest Moon?, because in early times it was believed to have been specially ordained to facilitate the gathering of the crops, but the name is probably associated also with the optical illusion which causes the rising full moon, seen near the horizon through the slight mistiness characteristic of fine weather in autumn, to appear unusually large, a symbol of plenty.
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Calendar of Nature Topics. Nature 132, 525–526 (1933). https://doi.org/10.1038/132525a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/132525a0