• Here is the celebrity of late September and early October 2012 - perhaps the best-known moon of them all - the legendary Harvest Moon. The moon reached the crest of its full phase at 03:19 Universal Time this morning, on September 30. That was 10:19 p.m. at late evening - on Saturday, September 29 - for the central U.S.
• All of us around the globe find tonight's moon in the same approximate place as every full moon - in the east as the sun sets and twilight begins to wash the sky. It's this big red Harvest Moon - ascending over the eastern ho

rizon in the deepening dusk - that everyone writes songs about. You'll see why if your sky is clear and you have a lovely setting for moonrise tonight.
• Like any full moon, the Harvest Moon rises at sunset and shines all night long. So what's special about the Harvest Moon? On the average, the moon rises 50 minutes later every night. But not the Harvest Moon! At mid-northern latitudes, the Harvest Moon rises 25 to 30 minutes later for several evenings in a row. And at far northern latitudes, the Harvest Moon rises 5 to 10 minutes later for several evenings in succession.
• In the days before electricity, farmers counted on the lamp of the Harvest Moon to gather their crops. Making up for the autumn season's waning daylight, the Harvest Moon faithfully provides several nights of dusk-till-dawn moonlight. This bonanza