Lunar observation

A lunar eclipse, also called a blood moon, is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon orbits through Earth's shadow.‍‍ Lunar eclipses occur during eclipse season, when the Moon's orbital plane is approximately in line with Earth and the Sun. The type and length of a lunar eclipse depend on the Moon's proximity to the lunar node.‍‍

thumb|alt=refer to caption|A juxtaposition of the apparent diameters of a more-average full moon on December 20, 2010 (left), and of the supermoon of March 19, 2011 (right) as viewed from Earth

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as the Moon Festival or Mooncake Festival, is a harvest festival celebrated in Chinese culture. It occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month of the Chinese lunisolar calendar and can fall between 7 September and 8 October (inclusive) of the Gregorian calendar. On this day, the Chinese believe that the moon is at its fullest and brightest, coinciding with the time of harvest in the middle of autumn.

thumb|Earthlight illuminates the dim side of the Moon, while direct sunlight illuminates the bright side.

Chuseok (; , ), also known as Hangawi (; ; from Old Korean, "the great middle [of autumn]"), is a major Korean mid-autumn harvest festival which occurs on the 15th day of the 8th month of the lunisolar calendar, on the full moon. In South Korea, the festival lasts for three days, including the days before and after the full moon. In North Korea, Chuseok is a single-day celebration on the full moon only. thumb|Hanbok thumb|Songpyeon As a celebration of the good harvest, Koreans visit their ancestral hometowns and share a feast of Korean traditional food such as songpyeon, yakgwa, fruits like As

optical illusion which causes the Moon to appear larger near the horizon than it does higher up in the sky

thumb|right|220px|Saturn's moon Mimas is lit by Saturnshine on the right and sunshine at the top. thumb|right|220px|The Moon lit by [[earthshine, captured by the lunar-prospecting Clementine spacecraft in 1994. Clementine's color enhanced image reveals (from right to left) the Moon lit by earthshine, the Sun's corona rising over the Moon's dark limb, and the planets Saturn, Mars, and Mercury (the three dots at lower left).]]

amount of apparent blurring and twinkling of astronomical objects due to atmospherical effects

short-lived light, color, or change in appearance on the surface of the Moon

An Uposatha (; ) day is a Buddhist day of observance, in existence since the Buddha's time (600 BCE), and still being kept today by Buddhist practitioners. The Buddha taught that the Uposatha day is for "the cleansing of the defiled mind," resulting in inner calm and joy. On this day, both lay and ordained members of the sangha intensify their practice, deepen their knowledge and express communal commitment through millennia-old acts of lay-monastic reciprocity. On these days, the lay followers make a conscious effort to keep the Five Precepts or (as the tradition suggests) the ten precepts. I

thumb|right|The night side of the Moon, illuminated by earthshine, becomes visible next to the narrow crescent (11 percent, age of the Moon = 3.3 days) with ash-grey moonlight.

The last day of the Lunar year

or , meaning, "moon-viewing", are Japanese festivals honoring the autumn moon, a variant of the Mid-Autumn Festival. The celebration of the full moon typically takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month of the traditional Japanese calendar, known as ; the waxing moon is celebrated on the 13th day of the ninth month, known as . These days normally fall in September and October of the modern solar calendar.

volcanic complex on the lunar far side

methods and instruments used to observe the Moon

traditional Vietnamese festival