Rare full harvest micro-moon lights up the night sky

It’s science meets superstition — astrology meets astronomy.

A rare celestial event lit up the night sky: a full harvest micro-moon falling on Friday the 13th.

News Channel 3’s Jake Ingrassia was there as the Rancho Mirage Observatory opened it’s telescope dome to look at the night sky and this unusual lunar occurrence.

The moon appeared “micro,” only about 14 percent smaller than normal.

“It’s really an exaggeration,” said Eric McLaughlin, an astronomer with Rancho Mirage Library and Observatory it’s just barely noticeably smaller but it is nonetheless a really neat thing to be able to mark

McLaughlin said it’s called a harvest moon because it’s the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox in two weeks. “It’s a good signifier that we’re getting close to fall and thus a good time to harvest certain crops,” he said.

Europa Gitte is an expert on universal energy. “The energies are just tremendously high today,” she said.

She wonders what’s all the worry with Friday the 13th. Superstitions aside, Gitte said in ancient times, Friday the 13th was a day for celebrating the goddess Venus, ruler of love and femininity.

Gitte said patriarchy is to blame for the day’s association with bad luck. “We changed all of that when patriarchy came upon so everything that was feminine needed to be demonized to take away powers,” she said.

Instead, Friday the 13th is about the contrary: “Every principle that has to do with love, with beauty, with kindness, with creativity, with intuition,” Gitte said.

That paired with the full moon makes it astrologically a time for self-reflection and healing.

“You might as well take it in and look at the things like, ‘What do I want to do, who do I want to be?'” she said.

The rare occurrence won’t happen again nationwide until August 13, 2049.

You can reach Jake on Twitter, Facebook or email him at jake.ingrassia@kesq.com. ​​​​​​​