September is a big month for moon lovers. This month, sky watchers can enjoy a rare combination of a harvest moon, a supermoon, and a partial lunar eclipse all at once.

The moon will appear full for about three days next week, starting Monday night and continuing through Thursday morning. But the full moon will officially occur Tuesday night at 10:35 p.m. Eastern Time, writes Gordon Johnston for NASA.

Following the “super blue moon” that occurred in August, Tuesday’s event is the next in a series of lunar spectacles for the rest of the year. Here’s what you need to know.

A ‘bite’ from the moon

Lunar eclipses occur during full moons, when our natural satellite passes through the Earth’s shadow. During a total lunar eclipse, the surface of the full moon takes on a red hue, as the Earth’s atmosphere scatters the blue wavelengths of sunlight, leaving only red light to illuminate the moon. A partial lunar eclipse, however, looks different.

“You’ll see that a little bite has been taken out of one side of the moon in about an hour,” writes NASA’s Preston Dyches.

If you’re hoping to catch a glimpse of the partial lunar eclipse, you’ll need to head outside in the evening. According to NASA, the moon will enter Earth’s outer shadow, called the penumbra, at 8:41 p.m. Eastern Time. The eclipse will peak at 10:44 p.m., when the upper 8 percent of the moon will be in Earth’s darker inner shadow, called the umbra. (You can see the full timing breakdown based on your location at Time & Date.)

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As far as eclipses go, this one is “small,” writes Bob King Sky & TelescopeBut since you don’t have to stay up too late to see it and it can be seen from anywhere in North America, the September lunar eclipse offers a good opportunity to witness a rare celestial spectacle that normally only happens a few times a year, and in some years not at all.

The best view is if you look at the moon through a telescope or binoculars, but you can also see the eclipse with the naked eye.

“With or without a telescope, the smooth curve of the dark shadow on the moon’s disk will be a beautiful reminder to us, as it was a divine revelation to the ancient Greeks, that our Earth is round,” writes Joe Rao for Space.com.

You can also consider this month’s partial lunar eclipse as a warm-up for the annular solar eclipse that will occur on October 2 and will be visible from the southernmost tip of South America.

How does a lunar eclipse work?

A super harvest moon

September’s full moon is also a supermoon, meaning it will appear bigger and brighter than usual. That’s because the moon is closer than usual as it orbits Earth. September’s full moon is the second of four consecutive supermoons this year. The next one, in October, will be even closer to Earth, but only marginally — NASA says September and October’s full moons are “virtually tied” for the closest of the year.

While you may not notice the slight difference in size (most casual observers don’t notice the difference in size between a supermoon and a regular full moon), Tuesday’s full moon will appear about 7 percent larger than average.

Finally, since it is the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox on September 22, the September full moon is also known as a Harvest Moon. The term, which dates back to at least 1706, is closely associated with agriculture.

“Unlike other full moons, this one rises at nearly the same time several nights in a row, around sunset, giving farmers several extra nights of moonlight and the opportunity to finish their harvest before the fall frosts set in,” writes Catherine Boeckmann for the Old Farmer’s Almanac.