September’s full moon, also known as the Harvest Moon, and Friday the 13th, a notoriously unlucky day in Western superstition, are quickly approaching.
The full moon also happens to be a micromoon — an event that occurs when the moon is at its apogee, or farthest point from Earth.
A micromoon is the opposite of a supermoon, when the moon is closest to the Earth. Micromoons appear about 14% smaller than a supermoon.
The full moon will occur precisely at 12:33 a.m. early Saturday, September 14 for those in the Eastern time zone.
Technically, this means only three-quarters of the country will get a completely full moon on Friday the 13th, but to the naked eye, it’ll look perfectly round to everyone going into the weekend.
A full moon on Friday the 13th is actually quite rare, occurring on average only once every 20 years.
The last full moon on Friday the 13th was in October 2000, and the next won’t happen until August 2049.
Next month’s full moon, the Hunter’s Moon, is set for October 13, but that day falls on a Sunday and not a Friday.