Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Resources

Harvest Moon

moon rising over mountains
Image Credit:  Doug Ellison
Published: July 9, 2018
Historical Date: September 16, 2016

A ‘Harvest Moon’ rising over the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains as seen from Pasadena, CA in September 2016. A ‘Harvest Moon’ is the full moon nearest the start of Fall, or the autumnal equinox.

ENLARGE

Related

This black-and-white image of the Earth-Moon system was captured on Sept. 25, 2017 by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft.
More
Black and white image of Earth and the moon.
OSIRIS-REx Pictures of Earth and the Moon
A detailed look at the floor of the Moon's Anaxagoras crater
More
shadowy depths and brightly-illuminated rocks on the Moon
The Floor of Anaxagoras Crater
Last image taken by Ranger 8 camera-A from a distance of 4.2 km, 2 seconds before impact on 20 February 1965.
More
Image of the surface of the moon
Ranger 8 Image Taken 2 Seconds Before Impact
LRO: Seeing the Moon Lithograph
More
First page of the LRO: Seeing the Moon lithograph
LRO: Seeing the Moon Lithograph
Astronaut David R. Scott, commander, is seated in the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) during the first Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Hadley-Apennine landing site.
More
Astronaut driving rover on the moon
Apollo 15 Mission Image - View of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP)
Video trailer for International Observe the Moon Night. Share widely! 
More
Video trailer for International Observe the Moon Night. Image of the Moon's surface in the background, with photographs of people around the world observing the Moon.
International Observe the Moon Night Trailer
A crescent Moon sets near a mountain on March 12, 2013.
More
Moon and thin clouds above a single mountain summit
Crescent Moon and Mountain
The South Pole-Aitken Basin on the lunar far side is one of the largest and oldest impact features in the solar system.
More
Color enhanced image showing massive impact region on the Moon.
South Pole-Aitken Basin
Lunar Orbiter 4 image of the Moon centered on the Mare Orientale Basin. The outermost circle of the "bull's eye" is the Cordillera Mountain scarp, almost 900 kilometers in diameter.
More
Image of moon with large basin in center
Lunar Orbiter 4 Image of the Moon
Views of the Apollo 11 landing site from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, taken on separate occasions when the Sun was at different points in the sky over the site.
More
animation showing lunar surface and landing craft at different sun angles
Apollo 11 Landing Site From Dawn to Dusk
A view from Apollo 13 of the lunar farside showing the crater Tsiolkovsky.
More
large lunar crater filled with dark, solidified lava
Crater Tsiolkovsky from Apollo 13
The ascent stage of the Apollo 10 Lunar Module (LM) is photographed from the Command Module prior to docking in lunar orbit. 
More
Lunar module in orbit
Ascent Stage of Apollo 10 Lunar Module Seen From Command Module
A close-up view of the plaque which the Apollo 14 astronauts will leave behind on the moon during their lunar landing mission.
More
Apollo 14 plaque signed by three astronauts
Plaque the Apollo 14 Crew Will Leave on the Moon
Scientists have successfully sprouted plants in lunar soil.
More
Close-up of clear plastic containers with tiny plants inside.
Growing Plants in Lunar Soil
This image of the Moon was obtained as the Galileo spacecraft passed the Earth and was able to view the lunar surface from a vantage point not possible from the Earth. 
More
Image of the Moon as the Galileo spacecraft passed the Earth
Far Side of the Moon
Eastern rim of Dionysius crater.
More
Eastern rim of Dionysius crater.
Dionysius Crater
The waxing Moon rises over a ridge in the Wasatch Mountains, Utah.
More
Photo of Moon over mountain treeline against blue sky.
Day Moon Ridge
This oblique photograph was taken looking south across Mare Imbrium by the Apollo 17 crew in 1972.  
More
The crater Copernicus, 93 kilometers in diameter, is seen in the distance.
Copernicus Crater
This view of the rising Earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the moon after the lunar orbit insertion burn.
More
This view of the rising Earth greeted the Apollo 8 astronauts as they came from behind the moon after the lunar orbit insertion burn.
Earthrise
The crew of the International Space Station snapped this image of the full Moon on April 30, 2018, as the station orbited off the coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The station orbits 220 miles, or 354...
More
full moon rising over blue atmosphere and ocean
Full Moon Over Newfoundland
A brilliant full Moon rises over the Launch Complex 39 area at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. 
More
Full moon against a black sky
Full Moon at Kennedy Space Center
Viewing the Moon with binoculars? Try this Observing Challenge from the Astronomical League.
More
Illustration of a kid's hand holding a marker, drawing the features of the Moon against a night sky.
Astronomical League Observing Challenge
Animation of before-and-after images of a new 39-foot (12-meter) impact crater on the Moon, obtained by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
More
alternating images showing lunar plain before and after the appearance of a small impact crater
Dynamic Moon!
Three images of Tycho crater and its central peak, located at 43 S, 11 W, on the Moon.
More
Three images of a crater
UV/Visible Composite Images of Tycho Crater on the Moon
1 Octobre: La Nuit Internationale d'Observation de la Lune 2022
More
Stylized illustration of silhouettes of people looking up at a large Moon in the night sky.
Save the Date - French

You Might Also Like

Like Earth, the Moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the Moon rotates.
More
Diagram of the Moon's phases
Moon Phases
Between four and seven times a year, Earth, Moon and Sun line up just right to create the cosmic-scale shadow show known as an eclipse.
More
Composite of lunar eclipse phases over night sky
Eclipses
Several theories vie for dominance but most agree on one thing — Earth's Moon was born from destruction.
More
Artist depiction of two planets colliding.
Moon Formation