Harvest Moon illuminates the equinox

FROM TODAY'S PRINT EDITIONS:

Yes, that was the Harvest Moon you saw last night (if clouds didn’t interfere). It’s defined as the full moon occurring closest in time to the autumn equinox, and was so named because farmers used its light to extend their harvesting into the night.

The moon was precisely full at 5:18 a.m. EDT today, just 6 hours and 5 minutes after the equinox at 11:13 p.m. last night. That makes it pretty nearly the definitive Harvest Moon.

(AP PHOTO: Sabillasville, Md., September 1994)