Jeddah, September 29, 2023, The Saudi Press Agency (SPA) has captured a striking photograph of the fourth and final giant moon of the year as it graced the shores of the Red Sea during its evening appearance. This celestial phenomenon, often referred to as the Harvest Moon for this season, exhibited an impressive size, appearing about 8% larger and 16% brighter than its usual presence.
Following sunset, a radiant giant harvest moon emerged on the eastern horizon, casting a picturesque pink or orange hue across the night sky until sunrise on the subsequent Saturday. Majed Abu Zahra, the President of the Astronomical Society in Jeddah, explained that the planet's atmosphere contributes to the moon's captivating coloration during sunrise. Specifically, the atmosphere scatters the white light reflected by the moon, leading to the dispersion of shorter wavelength blue spectrum colors and allowing our eyes to perceive the longer wavelength red spectrum colors.
In the nights ahead, the moon will ascend an hour later each day, eventually transitioning to visibility only during the predawn hours. During this phase, it will progress to the final quarter stage, occurring approximately one week after reaching its full moon phase.
