Last night’s biggest, brightest and best supermoon of the year rose worldwide after its intense light turned night to day.
October’s full moon, known as the “Hunter’s Moon” (but also as the “Falling Leaves Moon” and the “Blood Moon”), became full overnight on Oct. 17-19, with it rising on the eastern horizon during dusk on Oct. 17 the visual highlight.
Skywatchers were out in force at local dusk across the globe to see the full moon appear in the east and to glimpse a rare comet — complete with a long tail — in the west.
Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (also known as C/2023 A3 and comet A3) hasn’t become as bright as Venus in the night sky but has still earned the nickname “comet of the century.”
The long-tailed comet has caught the imagination because of its unfathomable orbit, which takes it into the inner solar system only once every 80,000 years. It’s never been seen before by modern humans.
Although the comet was visible in the night sky using binoculars, the supermoon’s brightness made it the dominant night sky sight. It was about 15% brighter and 30% larger in apparent size than typical full moons, wholly because it was the year’s closest full moon.
Since the moon’s orbital path around Earth is a slight ellipse, there’s a near-point (perigee) and a far-point (apogee) every month. However, it’s only when a full moon coincides with perigee that it’s celebrated.
Supermoon is an astrological term for a perigee full moon, which is slightly bigger and brighter than the average full moon. Astronomers define a perigee full moon as occurring within 90% of its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit.
The “Hunter’s Moon” was the closest and most prominent of four “supermoon” full moons in 2024, at 222,055 miles (357,363 kilometers) from Earth.
Whatever its distance from Earth, a full moon always looks its best as it appears on the eastern horizon just after the sun has set in the west draped in beautiful, muted orange light.
The next full moon, November’s “Beaver Moon,” will rise on Friday, Nov. 15, but the best time to watch it rise from North America and Europe will be moonrise on Saturday, Nov. 16.
Meanwhile, the comet will gradually return to the Oort Cloud — a sphere around our solar system home to millions of comets — and will likely never return.
Wishing you clear skies and wide eyes.
