If we miss tonight’s harvest moon, it’ll spin back around in a few years

The first harvest moon since 2009 will travel the night sky Thursday, but if cloud cover obstructs the viewing we’ll have another chance soon enough.

Cloudy or mostly loudy conditions were expected overnight Thursday.

The last October harvest moons were in 2006 and 2009; the next will be in 2020, according to NASA.

A harvest moon is simply the full moon closest to the fall equinox, and this year it falls in October. The full moon in September or October is called the harvest moon; each month has a different moniker for the full moon.

“The harvest moon is a full moon, but not one that really provides any specific unique-viewing opportunity,” says Andrea Jones to the National Geographic. Jones is the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter public engagement lead at NASA.

This story was originally published October 5, 2017 at 3:35 PM with the headline "If we miss tonight’s harvest moon, it’ll spin back around in a few years."