The Harvest Moon shone bright on Friday night (Sept. 16), and lucky skywatchers in some parts of the world were in for a rare treat as a subtle lunar eclipse coincided with the dazzling full moon.
Only viewers in Africa, Asia and Australia were able to see the shadowy eclipse, which is known as a "penumbral" lunar eclipse. But the full Harvest Moon was visible in clear skies anywhere on Earth. Check out our full gallery of reader-submitted penumbral Harvest Moon eclipse photos here: Harvest Moon Lunar Eclipse of 2016.
During a penumbral lunar eclipse, the moon passes through the outskirts of Earth's shadow. The shadow cast by Earth causes the moon to appear slightly darker than usual for a few minutes. The difference is subtle and not easy to see with the naked eye.
Photographers around the world were able to capture the Harvest Moon — with or without the penumbral eclipse — in its full glory Friday night. The moon still appeared full for a few days before and after its peak. The photo above shows the lunar eclipse at its maximum. It was taken by Stojan Stojanovski near Lake Ohrid in Macedonia.
Muhammaed Rayhan of the Jakarta Planetarium & Observatory in Indonesia was able to observe the eclipse with the naked eye. As he watched, the north side of the moon became noticably darker.
Skywatchers who weren't lucky enough to see the lunar eclipse still captured great views of the Harvest Moon. Photographer Austin Bond captured this time-lapse video of a Harvest Moon rising over Garden City Beach in South Carolina:
September's full moon is called the Harvest Moon because the bright moonlight helps to illuminate fields where farmers might be doing some late-night farming during the fall harvest season.
"This was the scene just north of Toronto, Ontario but representative of fields everywhere as the low-lying full Harvest Moon provided additional light for farmers to harvest their crops," said Stuart McNair, who took the photo above. "In this case, the farmer is bailing hay and the geese are about to settle down for the night as the sunlight gives way to moonlight."
Email Hanneke Weitering at hweitering@space.com or follow her @hannekescience. Follow us @Spacedotcom, Facebook and Google+. Original article on Space.com.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
