Feast Your Eyes on the Harvest Moon!
The full Moon rises on the evening of September 17, 2024. Strange things happen around this Moon, which is always near the autumnal equinox. The intervals between moonrises get really short. Learn more—and find out why it’s called the Harvest Moon.
When to See the Full Moon in September 2024
This year, look for September’s full Harvest Moon to appear just after sunset on Tuesday, September 17. It then reaches peak illumination at 10:34 P.M. Eastern Time. This year, it is also a Supermoon! Learn more about Supermoons.
Why Is It Called the Harvest Moon?
The full Moon names used by The Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American, and European sources. Traditionally, each full Moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred and through all of the Moon’s phases—not only the full Moon. The Harvest Moon, however, is a bit different!
Read Next
The Harvest Moon
The full Moon that happens nearest to the fall equinox (September 22 or 23) always takes on the name “Harvest Moon.” Unlike other full Moons, this full Moon rises at nearly the same time—around sunset—for several evenings in a row, giving farmers several extra evenings of moonlight and allowing them to finish their harvests before the frosts of fall arrive. Read more about the Harvest Moon!
While September’s full Moon is usually known as the Harvest Moon, if October’s full Moon happens to occur closer to the equinox than September’s, it takes on the name “Harvest Moon” instead. In this case, September’s full Moon is referred to as the Corn Moon.
The Corn Moon
This time of year—late summer into early fall—corresponds with the time of harvesting corn in much of the northern United States. For this reason, a number of Native American peoples traditionally used some variation of the name “Corn Moon” to refer to the Moon of either August or September. Examples include Corn Maker Moon (Western Abenaki) and Corn Harvest Moon (Dakota).
Alternative September Moon Names
Other Moon names for this month highlight how September is the transitional period between summer and fall:
- Autumn Moon (Cree)
- Falling Leaves Moon (Ojibwe)
- Leaves Turning Moon (Anishinaabe)
- Moon of Brown Leaves (Lakota)
- Yellow Leaf Moon (Assiniboine)
The behavior of animals is also a common theme, with Child Moon (Tlingit) referring to the time when young animals are weaned, and Mating Moon and Rutting Moon (both Cree) describing the time of year when certain animals, like moose, elk, and deer, are looking to mate.
→ Read more about full Moon names and their traditional meanings here.
Moon Phases for September 2024
Here are the Moon phase dates and times (EDT) for the month of September. Check our Moon Phase Calendar for dates and times in your city.
 | New Moon: September 2, 9:56 P.M. EDT |
 | First Quarter: September 11, 2:06 A.M. EDT |
 | Full Moon: September 17, 10:34 P.M. EDT |
 | Last Quarter: September 24, 2:50 P.M. EDT |
When is the next full Moon? Consult our Full Moon Calendar to find out.
September Full Moon Video
Why does the Moon ride high or low in the sky? Find out the answer to this question—and learn more about September’s Full Moon—in this entertaining video.
Best Days in September 2024
Below are the best days for activities, based on the Moon’s sign and phase in September.
| Activity | Best Days |
| Harvesting aboveground crops | 12, 13 |
| Harvesting belowground crops | 29, 30 |
| Canning and Pickling | 24-26 |
| Fishing | 2-17 |
→ See Best Days for more activities.
Moon Facts & Folklore
- Usually, the Moon rises about 50 minutes later each day, but around the time of the autumnal equinox, it rises only around 30 minutes later in the United States—even less in Canada.
- Frost occurring in the dark of the moon kills fruit buds and blossoms, but frost in the light of the moon will not.
Are you a full Moon lover? Share your thoughts below!
Catherine Boeckmann
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I love that you also told us what the native tribes called the moon I love hearing about our native American culture
Yes! I love seeing the full Harvest moon! It is the end of the planting and growing season and the beginning of the cold weather! Our garden is over, and we take out the old corn stalks and get the soil prepared for next spring. The wood chips keep moisture in the ground and turns into compost,
In addition to the Harvest Moon, at this time of year I am also interested in Michaelmas Day (9/29) since I first saw it mentioned in an Agatha Christie
novel just a few years ago. She talked about “Michaelmas Daisies” in her book. I had never heard of this so of course I looked it up in the Old Farmer’s Almanac and got my answer!
It is September 29, '23 and the full moon is tonight. I have been, for several years now, planting and transplanting by the moon phases and I have much greater success with it now. My gramps taught me to how read and comprehend the Frmers Almonac when in my early 20s. I wheind my children, lost weight and cut our hair with its info among so so many other tasks and behaviors. I'm so very glad we have this tool and that I learned from Gramps how to read and use it. He was a farmer, my dad a rancher who also used it for certain things to do with animals.
I was born on a full moon on 3/26 at 3:19 pm during the worst blizzard in 25 years. Many years later my daughter was born on 8/7 on a full moon at 9:13 pm during an absolutely wild, intense New England thunderstorm. Both of our births were a stones throw from the ocean. Love love love the full moon and the ocean
I love reading about the moon. It is so beautiful. I also love the stars, plants and reading the almanac finding out all the reasons of things. Reading to see what the weather will be like. The almanac has been in our families for years. Thank you
This moon always has the most energy to me. I love reading the almanac!
I am grateful for the image of the full moon with the airplane pollution cutting straight across the sky. I wonder if this will raise awareness in peoples’ consciousness. Where I live in north central Washington our skies have been literally inundated with airplane pollution, such that our skies our nearly white above the lower clouds, rather than a deep blue which would be normal for fall. the native foliage has suffered with the outer edges of leaves becoming bleached and desiccated, before we have had a frost. I marvel that more people do not notice this change.
Here's my take on it: I see it as an ugly blemish on the photo because I believe those to be chem-trails, not pollution. That's why we're seeing unfamiliar things happening in Nature . . . . What ARE they "raining" down upon us???
I noticed that in the picture too! Hopefully people are waking up…
