Harvester of joy: The Harvest Moon in pictures

By James Cutmore

Published: Monday, 12 September 2022 at 12:00 am

If you have been lucky over the last couple of days, you might have caught sight of the beautiful Harvest Moon through the cloudy UK skies. It was visible for a few days, reaching its peak on the 10 September.

The Harvest Moon is so-called because in a time before electricity, the brighter Moon would light up crops in fields past sunset, allowing farm workers to work longer to harvest their crops. For a similar reason, the Harvest Moon is also sometimes known as the Corn Moon, or the Barley Moon. The Harvest Moon is also unique because it rises close to the same time several days in a row.

If you missed the Harvest Moon, or just want to see it again, then take a look at some of our favourite images from around the world.

Toledo, Spain

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The full Harvest Moon rises over turbines of a wind farm with a recently harvested wheat field in the foreground, in Toledo, Spain. Wind energy has been the biggest source of electricity generation in Spain in the past year, according to the Spanish Wind Energy Association. Photo by Marcos del Mazo/LightRocket/Getty Images

Ungaran, Indonesia

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A silhouette of a tree branch can be seen in this delicate image of the full Harvest Moon, as it rises over the sky in Ungaran, Central Java Province, Indonesia on 11 September 2022. Photo by WF Sihardian/NurPhoto/Getty Images

Berkshire, UK

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The Harvest Moon is pictured high up in the clear early morning sky on 10 September 2022, at Clayfield Copse, Berkshire, UK. This full Moon peaks at a visibility of 99.8 per cent. 
Photo by Geoffrey Swaine/Shutterstock

Srinagar, India

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The full Moon is pictured above the skies of Srinagar, India, on 9 September 2022. Photo by Mubashir Hassan/Pacific Press/Shutterstock

New York, USA

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The full Harvest Moon rises between the twin beams of the Tribute in Light on 10 September 2022, lower Manhattan, USA, exactly one day before the 21st anniversary of the September 11th attacks on New York City. Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images

Tokyo, Japan

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The Harvest Moon is observed above a passing bullet train in Kawasaki, a suburb of Tokyo, Japan, on 10 September 2022. Photo by Yoshio Tsunoda/AFLO/Shutterstock

More images from Science Focus:

Kansas City, USA

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The full Harvest Moon rises behind downtown buildings on 9 September 2022, in Kansas City, USA. Photo by Charlie Riedel/AP/Shutterstock

Seoul, South Korea

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A full moon is seen in the sky near ‘N Seoul Tower’ on Mount Nam, one of the top tourist spots in Seoul, South Korea, 10 September 2022. The country is currently marking the Chuseok holiday, an autumn harvest celebration of the lunar calendar, and one of Korea’s major traditional holidays. Photo by Yonhap/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock