SEPTEMBER’S FULL MOON - THE “CORN” MOON! PLUS A TOTAL LUNAR ECLIPSE AND OTHER CELESTIAL TREATS!

On the evening of the 7th into the morning of the 8th of September (weather permitting) we will hopefully be treated to views of September’s beautiful full moon which is known to some as the “Corn” Moon and sometimes as the “Harvest” Moon. 

September’s full Moon will also rise whilst completely covered by the Earth’s umbral shadow, undergoing a total lunar eclipse! We made a post about the total lunar eclipse not too long ago, and so if you would like more information about the this special celestial event please read our total eclipse post. 

Although the full Moon may not be the astrophotographer's best of friends, the full Moon always makes for a beautiful sight in the night sky and is an important marker of the seasons for many people. 

If you would like to know more about this month’s full moon, plus when and where to see the Corn Moon, please read on… 

A full Moon occurs when its position in its orbit around Earth is at its furthest distance from the Sun (almost on the opposite side of the Earth compared to the Sun). This event, when the Earth stands almost directly between the Sun and Moon is also known as a Syzygy. When this happens, the side of the Moon that can be seen from Earth is completely illuminated, giving it the appearance of being full. 

On rare occasions the Earth can stand directly in between the Sun and Moon resulting in a lunar eclipse. 

A lunar eclipse is a rare event that occurs when Earth stands directly between the Moon and the Sun, which results in the Earth casting its shadow on the Moon. 

The Earth casts a faint outer shadow called the Penumbra and a darker central shadow called the Umbra. 

When the Moon enters the Penumbra this is known as a Penumbral lunar eclipse. However as the Penumbral shadow is very faint, it is very hard to discern a change in the Moon during a penumbral eclipse. 

A partial lunar eclipse is when the Moon partially enters the Earth’s umbral shadow and the portion of the Moon that is within the Umbra will discernibly appear darker than the rest of its surface. 

During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon is fully covered by Earth’s umbral shadow, making the Moon appear much darker than usual and giving the Moon a reddish hue. The phenomenon of the Moon appearing red in colour is where the term ‘Blood Moon’ comes from. 

This month’s full Moon will undergo a total lunar eclipse during the early evening of the 7th. During the total lunar eclipse you will be able to see the Moon being completed covered by the Earth’s shadow and will appear much darker and red in colour than usual. 

Although the eclipse will be visible to the eye, it will be more apparent and look more impressive to those with binoculars or a telescope. 

For those of us in central UK, the Moon will rise in the East at roughly 19:45 BST and at this moment the Moon will be totally eclipsed. As the Moon begins to rise above the horizon there will be a short window of time (roughly 8 minutes) before the Moon will begin to leave the umbral shadow. At this moment (19:53 BST) the Moon will have risen by only 1 degree above the horizon. From this moment onwards, it will take 1 hour 3 minutes for the Moon to slowly leave the Umbra, and the partial eclipse will end at 20:56 BST. 

Even though totality will be very brief and very hard to observe low on the horizon, this will still be a spectacular event to witness even if you only get to see the moments of partial eclipse as the Moon leaves the Earth’s Umbra and we recommend heading out to witness this special event if you can. 

We made a post about the total lunar eclipse not too long ago, and so if you would like more information about this special celestial event including tips on how best to view the eclipse, please read our total eclipse post. 

The full moon of each month has been given names by many cultures and peoples throughout history. The most commonly known full moon names are derived from Native American tribes. The Native American tribes gave distinctions to moons based on the time of year and the weather’s relationships to crop harvests and appearance of certain animals or animal behaviours. 

The time of year around late summer and early autumn coincides with the harvesting of corn crops in much of Northern America. Because of this, many Native American people traditionally used a variation of the name “Corn Moon” when referring to the full Moon of either August or September. 

Other names attributed to this full moon are also attributed to the time of year (late Summer into early Autumn), such as the Autumn Moon (Cree), the Falling Leaves Moon (Ojibwe), Leaves turning Moon (Anishinaabe), Moon of Brown Leaves (Lakota), Yellow Leaf Moon (Assiniboine), the Corn Maker Moon (Western Abenaki) and Corn Harvest Moon (Dakota).  

The behaviour of animals is also a common theme, with Child Moon (Tlingit) referring to the time when young animals are weaned, and Mating Moon and Rutting Moon (both Cree) describing the time of year when certain animals, like moose, elk, and deer, are looking to mate. 

The Full Moon closest to the Autumn equinox is also often known as the Harvest Moon. This sometimes occurs during September, however this year it occurs during the month of October. 

This month, the Moon will reach peak illumination at the moments either side of the lunar eclipse at 16:27 BST and 21:56 BST on the 7th of September. This means the night where the Moon will appear most full will be the night of the 7th into the morning of the 8th.

The Moon will rise on the night of the 7th at around 19:45 towards the East. As the night progresses the Moon will climb in the sky travelling Southwards. The Moon will reach an altitude of 31 degrees at its highest point in the sky at roughly 01:19 on the morning of the 9th towards the South. Following this, the Moon will begin to descend travelling Westwards before setting in the morning skies at around 07:16 towards the West. 

Remember that you don’t really need to know the exact time of peak illumination to enjoy viewing the full Moon, as the Moon will appear full throughout the night and on the nights surrounding the peak.

On the night of the 7th our natural satellite will be hitching a ride in the zodiacal constellation of Aquarius - the water bearer.

More specifically, the Moon can be found just left of the star Hydor in Aquarius and around 10 degrees to the right of the bright planet Saturn.

Aquarius can be found below the great square of Pegasus and in between the zodiacal constellations of Capricornus and Pisces.

The great thing about observing the Moon is that we don’t have to go and find a particularly dark location to view it. As the Moon is such a bright object in the sky, we can view it from brighter locations, even from the centre of a heavily light polluted city. Weather permitting of course. 

It's always lovely to watch the moon rise/set, so if you can head out to witness the Moon rise or set, please do. Every time the Moon rises and sets it takes on a beautiful golden, amber colour and appears larger at this time too, due to an optical illusion known as the ‘Moon illusion’. It's truly special to witness. As it rises and glides higher it’s colour will transition into a bright white. 

Sometimes the Moon can appear even more orangey red than usual too! The hue of the moon typically depends on atmospheric conditions wherever you’re viewing it from. Things like clouds, dust, haze, smoke or pollution can cause the moon to appear different colours by scattering much of the blue light shining onto our natural satellite, leaving it with a more reddish tone.

Due to the effect of atmospheric refraction during this month’s total lunar eclipse the Moon will appear even more darker and redder in colour than usual too!

There are a number of other celestial treats about at this moment in time too. Here is a small selection of celestial treats to look out for: 

- We have a number of meteor showers active at this moment in time. Although the full moon will drown out all but the brightest of these meteors, it is still worth keeping an eye out for those beautiful streaks of light known as shooting stars.

- The asterism known as the Summer Triangle is a prominent asterism in our current night time skies and can help you find where to view our home galaxy the Milky Way. The brightest stars of the constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila – the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair respectively, create a huge triangle in the night sky known as the Summer Triangle. They are located in a bright section of the Milky Way known as the Cygnus region. The body of the swan Cygnus also creates a cross like shape known as the Northern Cross. If you follow the length of the cross and continue tracing along the direction of this line, this can show you where the rest of the Milky Way stretches across the sky.

- The great Hercules globular star cluster M13 in the constellation of Hercules is an awe-inspiring sight when viewed through binoculars or a telescope and is also visible to the naked eye under favourable conditions. The glow from this Summer time treat (created from a super dense concentration of stars) is fairly easy to see in our night time skies and we recommend you try to find it with your binoculars or telescope.

- Our closest galactical neighbour, the amazing Andromeda Galaxy can be spotted to the eye as a small, faint and fuzzy elliptical shape in the constellation of Andromeda.

- The radiant open star cluster the Pleaides (aka the Seven Sisters) can be found in the constellation of Taurus.

- We are now truly within what many people consider the Aurora season! Due to the skies becoming darker, chances of viewing the Aurora are now much higher and the Aurora may now be seen dancing on our Northern horizons on nights of strong auroral activity. Typically the bright Moon tends to wash the aurora out, however occasionally there are displays that are so strong they are visible despite the moonlight. 

This September is also a fairly good time to spot some bright planets…

- For the early birds or all night stargazers, the brilliantly bright planet Venus can currently be fairly easily seen shining brightly at an impressive magnitude of -3.92 towards the East in the early morning just before sunrise.

- The amazing ringed planet Saturn is now very easy to spot riding high in the night sky. Saturn can currently be observed in the constellation of Pisces just below the great square of Pegasus.

- The gas giant Jupiter is also now fairly easy to spot located in the constellation of Gemini during the early morning skies. Look to the East during the early morning hours and you will be able to spot the bright planet Jupiter.

If you own a pair of binoculars or a telescope, you can get an even closer look at the Moon, stars and other celestial treats, revealing fantastic details. The Moon with its mares and craters, the planets and the radiant Andromeda Galaxy, Pleiades star cluster and the Hercules cluster are all amazing to view using binoculars or a telescope. 

If you would like to know more about the rest of the celestial treats that can be seen in the skies throughout September, please head to our YouTube channel to watch our Night Sky Guide video for September 2025.

We always love hearing about your celestial adventures! If you head out to witnessthis special celestial event or any other sights in the night sky, please feel free to share your stories comments below. 😊

This month’s full Moon will be a beautiful sight, and with it being totally eclipsed as it rises will make it an even more special occasion! So if you can, we recommend heading out to witness this September’s full Moon!

Good luck if you head out folks. Wrap up warm if you do. Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask. 

Clear skies 💖

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