How did the ‘Corn Moon’ get its name? Get ready for summer’s last full moon

The final full moon before the autumnal equinox will light up the sky Monday and appear full for days.

Monday’s full moon will appear full until Wednesday, according to NASA. It’s the last full moon of the summer ahead of Wednesday’s autumn equinox.

The moon is known by many names, including the harvest moon.

“As the full Moon closest to the autumnal equinox, this is the Harvest Moon, an old European name,” NASA said. “The Oxford English Dictionary gives 1706 as the year of its first published use. Farmers sometimes need to work late by the light of the Moon for the harvest.”

The harvest moon has also been called a fruit moon or barley moon as harvests happen near the end of the summer. It can also be called the corn moon.

“The Algonquin tribes in what is now the northeastern U.S. called this the Corn Moon, as this was the time for gathering their main staple crops of corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice,” NASA said.

Regardless of the name, Monday’s full moon will give “dusk-till-dawn moonlight,” according to EarthSky.

Typically, a full moon rises at sunset and then 50 minutes later each day. The harvest moon, however, rises about 20 to 25 minutes later each day for several days, EarthSky reported.

The moon will likely be visible during the night until early Wednesday morning, according to Space.com.

The harvest moon could look bigger to the human eye or more orange, but it’s “an average-sized full moon,” EarthSky reported.

The next full moon after Monday’s harvest moon will be Oct. 20, according to NASA.

This story was originally published September 20, 2021 at 2:48 PM with the headline "How did the ‘Corn Moon’ get its name? Get ready for summer’s last full moon."