A supermoon in Colorado Springs in 2024
Parker Seibold / The Gazette via APP photo / Alamy
The next few months will be a wonderful moment for moon lovers because we have four supermoons to come – in a row. These exceptional complete moons are the hunter’s moon in October, the Beaver Moon in November, the aptly named (for the northern hemisphere, at least) Cold Moon in December and January wolf. The key to being a supermoon is that it seems a little larger and more brilliant than a regular moon.
A supermoon occurs when a full moon occurs when our satellite is at its point closest to the earth on its elliptical orbit around the planet. This makes it appear up to 8% larger and 15% more brilliant than a regular moon – things that Skywatchers around the world can see.
The full moon closest to the coming months will occur in November, but it is unlikely that the difference between this supermoon and the others will be noticeable. The best time to watch a supermoon is when it rises or takes place: being near the horizon gives the moon the illusion of appearing even greater – compared to objects in our immediate vicinity.
The first supermoon will take place on October 7. If the night is clear, you should be able to see the moon completely lit in the night sky as soon as the sun has slept, wherever you are.
Even if you miss this, it’s always a good time to discover the moon, because in the days that followed the full moon, it will take place through an occupied part of the sky towards the constellation of the bull. As he travels, there will be a lot of objects to choose.
On October 10, the moon will be discouraged, but even more than 75% illuminated, and it will appear next to the Pleiades in the night sky. The Pléiade is a group of stars also known as seven sisters. It is an open cluster, describing a collection of young stars that have formed at the same time, and is around 440 light years.
With the naked eye, only the brightest stars are visible – hence the name, seven sisters. They appear roughly in the form of a square with a line coming out of a corner, like a mini version of the plow, or Big Dipper.
On October 14, the moon will be less than 50% illuminated, so it will look like less than half a moon, and it will be next to the planet Jupiter. If you have twins or a small telescope, you can perhaps distinguish some of the four Galilean moons from Jupiter, its greatest satellites.
If you want to study the moon in more detail, take a look through a telescope on October 30, when it is in its first trimester phase. For a few hours a month, there is a chance to see illusions of fascinating optics called Lunar X and V. These are forms that appear on the surface of the moon.
Then, at the beginning of November, it will be time for the next supermoon.
These items are displayed each week at
Newscientist.com/maker
