Full Moon September 2031: Corn Moon
The September full moon takes this name only when the Harvest Moon falls in October instead. Times convert to your time zone (showing UTC).
Peak fullness (showing UTC)
- Name
- Corn Moon
- Distance
- 364,383 km
- Type
- Average
About the Corn Moon
The September full moon takes this name only when the Harvest Moon falls in October instead.
Corn was harvested in early autumn, and the Barley Moon is a European counterpart. Most years the September full moon is the Harvest Moon; about one year in three it is the Corn Moon and October takes the Harvest title.
Near the equinox the moon rises only about 25 minutes later each evening instead of the usual 50, giving several bright evenings in a row.
Lore
When the Harvest Moon falls in October, September's moon keeps its older name, the Corn Moon, for the maize harvest. It shares the Harvest Moon's habit of rising soon after sunset for several nights, giving long, bright evenings for bringing in crops.
Trivia
- The Corn Moon name applies only about one year in three, when the equinox is closer to October's full moon.
- The Barley Moon is its English counterpart.
- Near the equinox the full moon rises only about 25 minutes later each evening instead of the usual 50.
Second full moon of the month (showing UTC)
- Name
- Blue Moon (Harvest Moon)
- Distance
- 373,476 km
- Type
- Average
About the Blue Moon
A second full moon in one calendar month. It happens about every two and a half years and has nothing to do with color.
The monthly definition became popular after a 1946 Sky and Telescope article misread the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which used an older seasonal rule: the third full moon in a season that has four. Both definitions are in use today. The phrase "once in a blue moon" predates both and simply means rarely.
Because the calendar month decides it, a Blue Moon in one time zone can be an ordinary full moon in another when the full moon falls within hours of midnight on the first or last day of the month.
Lore
The phrase once in a blue moon is older than any astronomical definition and originally meant something absurd or never. The modern rule, a second full moon in one calendar month, spread from a 1946 magazine article and a 1980s radio programme. Genuinely blue-looking moons have been seen after huge volcanic eruptions and forest fires, when smoke particles scatter red light.
Trivia
- Monthly Blue Moons happen about every 2.7 years.
- The older seasonal rule calls the third full moon of a season with four the Blue Moon.
- After Krakatoa erupted in 1883 the Moon appeared blue or green for nearly two years.
All moon phases in September 2031
| Phase | Date and time (UTC) |
|---|---|
| Full Moon | |
| Last Quarter | |
| New Moon | |
| First Quarter | |
| Full Moon |
See the whole month day by day on the moon phases calendar for your city.