September 16, 2024 – A Harvest Moon with a partial eclipse will be viewable Tuesday night across Texas.
The term Harvest Moon refers to the full moon closest to the start of autumn. It happens annually. The Old Farmer’s Almanac coined the name in the 1930s because the full moon’s bright light helped farmers continue harvesting their crops after dusk.
In a lunar eclipse, the Moon often passes through two regions of Earth’s shadow: an outer penumbra, where direct sunlight is dimmed, and an inner umbra, where indirect and much dimmer sunlight refracted by Earth’s atmosphere shines on the Moon, leaving a reddish color.
For the Hopkins County area, the best time to observer the partial eclipse will be from 9:15 p.m. to 9:44 p.m. After 9:44pm the shadow of the earth on the moon will diminish, and the moon’s appearance will return to normal.
Only a small sliver of the moon could go dark, but the entire moon will be affected by the earth’s shadow. The moon may appear red for several hours Tuesday night.
Clear skies are currently forecast for Tuesday evening so there is a good chance you will be able to see this celestial event.
