Super Moon With Partial Eclipse Tues Above Washington, Oregon, Coast

Published 9/14/24 at 4:35 p.m.
By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff

(Portland, Oregon) – September's full moon is coming up on Tuesday, September 17, and those around the Pacific Northwest may notice a couple of differences in this one. Called the Full Harvest Moon, for those in Oregon and Washington it will be a partial lunar eclipse and a super moon. All of this will be visible in places like the Washington and Oregon coast, but also in Europe, African and the Middle East. (Photo Oregon Coast Beach Connection: you can just barely see a darker shade on the example to the right)

According to Jim Todd, astronomy expert at Portland's OMSI, weather-permitting you'll barely notice the eclipse, which will be very slight and shallow.

“The Harvest Moon becomes visible at approximately the time of sunset on the days around the day of the Full Moon,” Todd told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. “It refers to the Full Moon that comes closest to the first day of autumn, which will be on Sunday, September 22.”

See Washington Coast Weather - Oregon Coast Weather - Inland Oregon Weather

For the Portland area – as well as Oregon's coast at places like Coos Bay, Newport or Seaside – it will start out as a large orange object just above the horizon just after 7:17 p.m. The color comes from the atmosphere, where the horizon has more air layers for light to pass through. You'll notice that shifts as it rises.

Cannon Beach

“The atmosphere scatters blue light (the reason the sky looks blue). The atmosphere's thickness in the horizon's direction scatters blue light most effectively, but it lets red light pass through,” Todd said. “Therefore, a moon near the horizon takes on a yellow, orange, or reddish hue.”

When it's on the horizon, it will also look bigger to you, but Todd said that's a trick of the brain.

Also see: Look East Now for Eerie Cone of Light: 'False Dawn' of Washington, Oregon, the Coast - Zodiacal light, or false dawn in this case, could be visible

Then again, right now it is a super moon, which means it's closer than usual during its full state. This is what's called a perigee moon.

Part of the name of the Harvest Moon comes from the fact our ancestors would do some harvesting by the light of this moon, as the sun would start to sink ever faster at dusk.

Eclipse for Oregon, Washington, the Coast

The eclipse effect begins already before the moon has risen on Tuesday, but it will rise at 7:17 p.m. with a little shading taking place – from the point of view of areas like Salem, Seattle, Portland, Eugene, Corvallis or even the two coastlines of Washington and Oregon. Moonrise times will be sooner for those in eastern Washington and Oregon, such as Spokane or Ontario, but slightly later on the Oregon coast and Washington coast in towns like Ocean Park, Newport, Cannon Beach or Gold Beach.

“It will reach its closest to the center of the shadow at 7:44 p.m. as it is only 3.9 degrees above the eastern horizon,” Todd said.

That may mean the coastal regions of Oregon and Washington might get blocked at times by the Oregon Coast Range.

A partial eclipse in Manzanita, Oregon

“Rising, but the combination of a very low moon and the total eclipse phase will make the moon so dim that it will be extremely difficult to view until moon gets higher in the sky or the total phase ends,” Todd said. “The 8% small partial viewed in the upper portion of the moon. The last contact with the moon leaving the earth's shadow will be at 8:15 p.m. at 9 degrees above the eastern horizon.”

Todd said partial lunar eclipses happen because the Earth blocks the sun from the moon – and the moon is full to us. Yet the whole thing is not quite aligned.

“Only part of the Moon's visible surface moves into the dark part of the Earth's shadow,” Todd said. “On September 17, eclipse watchers in Portland will not see that first contact with the penumbra occurs at 5:41 p.m. with the full moon 17 degrees below the eastern horizon.”

However, 2025 will see a full lunar eclipse on March 13-14.

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