Rare Harvest Moon will appear on Friday 13th – here’s how to see it tonight

A full Harvest Moon will rise over the UK this evening, falling on "unlucky" Friday 13th for the first time in 84 years.

The Harvest Moon is the full moon that falls closest to the autumnal equinox, which is usually on September 23.

The last time that the Northern Hemisphere's full Harvest Moon fell on Friday 13th was in the year 1935, and the next time won't be until the year 2171.

This year, the Harvest Moon is also a known as a "micro-moon" – the opposite of a supermoon – because it is at the furthest point from Earth during its elliptical orbit.

Here's what you need to know about the Harvest Moon, and how to see it.

When is the Harvest Moon?

The Harvest Moon will appear on the evening of Friday, September 13.

In the UK, the moon will rise at around 19.35 BST, and remain visible in the sky all night, until about 05.19 on Saturday morning.

The moment at which the Moon is officially "full" will be at 04:34 BST on Saturday morning.

However, elsewhere in the world – including most of the United States – the full moon will peak on Friday evening.

What is a Harvest Moon?

The Harvest Moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox every year.

It appears "full" because it is located on the opposite side of the Earth as the sun, meaning that its face is fully illuminated in the night sky.

The Harvest Moon was given the name in the days before electric lights, when farmers depended on bright moonlight to extend the workday beyond sunset.

Working by moonlight was the only way they could gather their ripening crops in time for market, so the full moon was always a welcome sight.

Why is it a micro-Moon?

A micro-Moon happens when a Full Moon coincides with apogee – the point in the Moon's orbit when it is farthest away from Earth. 

It is the opposite of a supermoon, which occurs when the Moon is full at the closest point to Earth in its orbit, known as the perigee.

Because a micro-Moon is further away, it looks approximately 14% smaller than a Supermoon. The illuminated area also appears 30% smaller, so it might look a little less bright.

Is it unlucky?

The number 13 and Friday both have a long history of bringing bad luck.

One of the reasons the number 13s is considered unlucky is because of the Bible – Judas, who betrayed Jesus, is thought to have been the 13th guest to sit down to the Last Supper.

It also has a root in Norse mythology. A dinner party of the gods was ruined by the 13th guest called Loki, who caused the world to be plunged into darkness.

The superstition has stuck, with some hotels having no room 13 and many tall buildings jumping straight from the 12th to the 14th floor. Some airlines also refuse to have a row 13 in their planes.

Meanwhile, Friday has been considered the unluckiest day of the week for hundreds of years.

In Geoffrey Chaucer's famous Canterbury Tales, written in the 14th Century, he says "and on a Friday fell all this mischance".

In Britain, Friday was once known as Hangman's Day because it was usually when people who had been condemned to death would be hanged.

The combination of these superstitions has resulted in Friday 13th being considered a particularly unlucky day.

As for the Moon, folklore suggests that Full Moons and Micromoons affect human mental health and bring on natural disasters like earthquakes.

Luckily, there is no scientific evidence to support any such correlation.

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