The Harvest Moon and the Hunter's Moon, which are popularly celebrated not only on account of their romantic associations, but also because in some parts of the world they afford a useful prolongation of light after sunset, occur only near the time of the autumnal equinox, and they are always full moons. The full moon nearest the date of the equinox, September 23d, is the Harvest Moon, and the full moon next following is the Hunter's Moon. Their peculiarity is that they rise, for several successive evenings, almost at the same hour, immediately after sunset. This is due to the fact that at that time of the year the ecliptic, from which the moon's path does not very widely depart, is, in high latitudes, nearly parallel with the horizon.