The full moon on Sunday is a Hunter’s Moon, the first full moon after the Harvest Moon, which was Sept. 26.
There is no long period of darkness between sunset and moonrise at the time of the Harvest Moon and the Hunter’s Moon. This extra light provides more time for hunters to look for their prey and more time to bring in crops.
In the Northern Hemisphere, the Harvest Moon usually occurs in September. The Hunter’s Moon is usually in October.
A Hunter's Moon rises in the east in Sabino Canyon in this photo from the Star's files.
While the Harvest and Hunter’s Moons seem to be larger, brighter, and more yellow than other full moons, that is an illusion. The moon is no larger or brighter than usual, but we may perceive it as more yellow or orange because we tend to notice a Harvest or Hunter’s Moon as it rises over the mountains or hills. It is low in the sky, and its blue light is scattered more than its red light, giving it an orange or yellow color.
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On Tuesday evening, the gibbous moon rises at 6:38 p.m. It is just slightly northeast of the Pleiades the Seven Sisters. (Further east in the United States, the moon occulted (blocked) a portion of the Pleiades.)
By 8 p.m., they should be well above the eastern horizon, with the moon about 1 ½ degrees from the main portion of the Pleiades. They will be gorgeous in binoculars.
