This Week's Beaver Moon Is Your Last Chance To See A Supermoon In 2024

Be sure not to miss the last supermoon of the year, known as the Beaver Moon, this week. This will be the last of four consecutive supermoons, and will be slightly brighter than the first of the four in mid-August.

The term supermoon, coined in 1979, refers to when a full moon coincides with the Moon’s closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit, a point known as perigee. According to NASA, full moons can happen at any point along the Moon’s elliptical path. However, it is when a full moon occurs at or near the perigee that it appears slightly larger and brighter than the “average” full moon, hence the name supermoon.

November’s supermoon is often referred to as the Beaver Moon. The name comes from a variety of traditions and folklore in Native American and European culture.

One possible explanation is November is when beavers begin their winter preparations by fortifying dams and stocking up on food supplies. It is also the season hunters trap beavers for their thick, winter-ready pelts to use for clothing. Other names used for November’s full moon are the Frosty Moon, or the Snow Moon.

In other parts of the world, the November full moon has a different meaning. In Thailand and nearby countries, for instance, this full Moon is called Loy Krathong, a festival that includes decorating baskets and floating them on a river. It is also Kartik Purnima (the full Moon of the Hindu lunar month of Kartik) and is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs (each for different reasons).

The month of November holds other celestial events as well, such as Saturn shining bright most of the night, and Jupiter rising in the early evening alongside Taurus and Orion. Mars will trail a few hours later, and will be visible high in the early morning sky.

November’s supermoon will be Friday afternoon, November 15, 2024, at 4:29pm EST.