Harvest Supermoon Lights Up New York City for Photographers

A large Harvest Supermoon put on a show for photographers in New York City yesterday and Sunday as it loomed large and bright over the Manhattan skyline.

A supermoon occurs when the Moon is full while at its closest point to Earth (called perigee), making it appear larger and more luminous. Photographers use clever focal lengths to make the Moon appear even more massive.

In reality, a supermoon looks roughly 10 percent larger and 30 percent brighter than a regular full Moon. But when a photographer uses a powerful zoom, it creates a compression effect, making the Moon look comparable in size to objects in the foreground, such as buildings or, in Gary Hershorn’s case, the Statue of Liberty.

Hershorn took stunning shots of the Harvest Supermoon rising behind the Statue of Liberty and the Brooklyn skyline on Monday evening. The day before, he got a “98 percent illuminated waxing gibbous Moon” rising behind the EdgeNYC observation deck.

Meanwhile photographer Mike Carroll captured a United airplane flying through the supermoon. The plane’s wake made it look as if the Moon itself was shimmering. The night before, Carroll captured Earth’s natural satellite rising behind the Jenga Building in New York.

Dan Martland, meanwhile, captured a British Airways plane riding on top of the Moon, as well as getting the huge disk rising above midtown Manhattan. The latter shot had an interesting billboard in the foreground. “No problem getting it up tonight,” Martland commented on X.

Space.com notes that the full Moon nearest to the Autumn equinox is called the Harvest Moon. Traditionally, farmers would use light reflected from the Moon to work the fields at night.