Full Corn Moon rises Tuesday promising a Blue Moon Halloween

Sept. 1 (UPI) — September’s lone full moon will rise so early this year that it will shine as the Corn Moon Tuesday night, promising that October’s skies will be graced by a Blue Moon on Halloween.

For the first time in three years, the Corn Moon will rise in September and is to peak Wednesday morning at 1:22 a.m. EDT on the so-called opposite side of the Sun, according to NASA.

Usually, September’s full moon rises closer to the Autumn Equinox, which ushers in the fall season on Sept. 22, and is named the Harvest Moon in relation to when Native Americans traditionally harvested their crops, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.

However, the nearest moon to the equinox is to rise on Oct. 1 this year, meaning September’s full moon is the Corn Moon as it appears around the traditional corn harvest, the annual calendar publication said.

“Corn requires up to 100 frost-free days to reach harvest depending upon variety and the amount of heat during the growing season,” the almanac said. “That would take us to around the end of August to early September. Hence, for a full moon in early Septemeber, it seems appropriate to brand it as a Corn Moon.”

This means that the celestial body will appear full twice in October’s skies with the Blue Moon, the latter of the two full moons, to fall on Saturday, Oct. 31 — Halloween.