Moon watching tips for Mid-Autumn Festival 2011

29 August 2011

The Mid-Autumn Festival this year falls on 12 September (Monday). To facilitate moon-watching by the public, the times of moonrise, transit and moonset during the Mid-Autumn Festival period are given below. During transit, the moon passes the local meridian in the south and the elevation is the highest of the night.

11 September (Sunday)

	Moonrise	at 5:39pm
	Transit (Elevation 64 degrees)	at 11:42pm
	Moonset	at 5:49am (next morning)

12 September (Monday) (Mid-Autumn Festival)

	Full Moon (The moon is below the horizon of Hong Kong at this moment)	at 5:27pm
	Moonrise	at 6:13pm
	Transit (Elevation 69 degrees)	at 0:24am (next morning)
	Moonset	at 6:39am (next morning)

13 September (Tuesday)(The day following Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival)

	Moonrise	at 6:46pm
	Transit (Elevation74 degrees)	at 1:05am (next morning)
	Moonset	at 7:28am (next morning)

Scientific Officer of the Hong Kong Observatory, Mr Woo Wang-chun, said, "If weather permits, a bright and clear moon can be observed from open space in all districts during the period. Although the moonrise occurs after the full moon (i.e. when the moon and the sun are located on opposite sides of the Earth, see the attached diagram), the brightness of the moon will not diminish after the moonrise and moon-watching will not be affected."

For information about the weather during the Mid-Autumn Festival period, please refer to the "7-day Weather Forecast" issued by the Observatory at www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm.

Positions of the sun, the earth and the moon at full moon
(The above diagram is for illustrative purpose only. Sizes and distances of the sun, the earth and the moon are not drawn to scale.)