Moon Watching Tips for Mid-Autumn Festival
Moon Watching Tips for Mid-Autumn Festival
(11 September 2007)
The Mid-Autumn Festival this year falls on September 25 and the Full Moon will occur after moonrise at 3.45am. on September 27 (17th day of the 8th Lunar Month). Except for this year, all Mid-Autumn Full Moons (Full Moon of the 8th Lunar Month) from 2005-2012 occur during the daytime. Hence the Mid-Autumn Full Moon this year is the fullest one which the public may be able to observe in recent years.
Full Moon at Mid-Autumn Festival usually occurs on the 15th day or 16th day of the 8th Lunar Month, and occasionally on the 17th day. The last time the Mid-Autumn Full Moon occurred on the 17th day of the 8th Lunar Month was in 2000, and the next time will be in 2016.
The distance between the Moon and the Earth will be about 361,000 kilometers at this Full Moon, slightly shorter than the average value of 385,000 kilometers. The Moon will therefore appear to be slightly larger than normal.
Below are the times of moonrise, transit and moonset during the Mid-Autumn Festival period this year. During transit, the Moon passes the local meridian in the south and the elevation is the highest of the night.
On Monday, 24 September
| Moonrise |
at 4.35pm |
|---|---|
|
Transit (Elevation 55 degrees) |
at 10.24pm |
| Moonset |
at 4.18am (next morning) |
On Tuesday, 25 September (Mid-Autumn Festival)
| Moonrise |
at 5.13pm |
|---|---|
|
Transit (Elevation 62 degrees) |
at 11.13pm |
| Moonset |
at 5.20am (next morning) |
On Wednesday, 26 September
| Moonrise |
at 5.51pm |
|---|---|
|
Transit (Elevation 70 degrees) |
at 0.03am (next morning) |
| Full Moon (Direction due west-southwest, Elevation 34 degrees) |
at 3.45am (next morning) |
| Moonset |
at 6.23am (next morning) |
For the weather during the Mid-Autumn Festival period, please see the "7-day Weather Forecast" issued by the Hong Kong Observatory at
http://www.weather.gov.hk/wxinfo/currwx/fnd.htm