Shine on, harvest moon.

This September’s full moon – set to grace the early morning hours of Friday, Sept. 29 – has inspired songs and folklore. This year’s Harvest Moon will have another special feature as well – it’s the last supermoon of 2023.

According to NASA, September’s full moon will reach peak illumination Friday morning at 5:58 a.m. EDT (4:48 a.m. CDT). The moon will appear full the days before and after the peak.

This year’s full moon is also a “supermoon,” an astrological term for when a full moon occurs near the Moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly elliptical orbit. At this point, the moon will appear about 5% bigger and 13% brighter than the average full moon. We won’t see the next supermoons until August, September, October and November 2024.

Harvest Moon

Unlike many moons that appear in a certain month, the Harvest Moon’s timing is tied to the autumnal equinox. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, the Harvest Moon is the name given to the moon that occurs nearest to the equinox. This means the Harvest Moon can occur in either September of October, depending on how to the lunar cycle lines up with the Gregorian calendar.

There are other names for the Harvest Moon, coming from Native American traditions: the Autumn Moon, Child Moon, Corn Harvest Moon, Corn Maker Moon, Falling Leave Moons, Leaves Turning Moon, Mating Moon and Moon of Brown Leaves.

After the Harvest Moon, we will have the Full Hunter’s Moon in October, Full Beaver Moon in November and Full Cold Moon in December.