DENVER -- If you've heard about September's full moon, also known as the Harvest Moon, and are worried you won't get the chance to see it this Friday -- dread not! It will be visible pretty much everywhere in Colorado.
The Harvest Moon is so named because it's the full moon closest to the first day of fall, which arrives on Sept. 22 in the Northern Hemisphere.
The name stuck because in the olden days a full moon at night provided some extra light, allowing farmers to gather their crops later into the evening.
-- Best spots to see it --
While it's no meteor shower that requires you travel out to the mountains to see it (and while there will be clear skies through the night), light pollution still takes away from an otherwise fantastic viewing experience.
Here are the places we recommend to see the Harvest Moon:
- Castlewood Canyon: Although the trails of the Canyon close to the public at 9 p.m., the general Canyon area is the perfect candidate to avoid light pollution.
- Rist Canyon near Fort Collins: Rist Canyon is a great candidate for stargazing -- and again, no could cover!
- Boulder Canyon: Getting away from the lights in Boulder might be trickier than it seems, but Boulder Canyon should be a great place to do so.
- Aurora Reservoir: Close to the metro area and picturesque, this location is far enough away from Denver and Aurora to have a spectacular view of the moon.
This particular moon will look larger than most full moons, but it will not be a Supermoon, unfortunately.
-- This is 2016's last lunar eclipse --
Another reason not to miss this? This Harvest Moon will also be a penumbral lunar eclipse.
A penumbral outer edges of the Earth's shadow will cover the moon, making it appear darker than usual.
The next lunar eclipse visible in the United States will occur Feb. 11, 2017.
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