Supermoon to light up UK skies tonight - best way to watch stunning Beaver Moon

The Beaver Moon has made a dazzling appearance across parts of the country but sadly the next supermoon is not due until October 2025, so it's worth checking out it while you can tonight

The last spectacular supermoon of 2024 has lit up UK skies tonight- but there is still time to watch if you're quick.

The Beaver Moon has made a dazzling appearance across parts of the country but sadly the next supermoon is not due until October 2025, so it's worth checking out it while you can tonight.

The full Beaver Moon rose in the UK at around 15:30 GMT and has already been spotted across Leeds, North Somerset, London, Buckinghamshire and the Shetland Islands. In parts of southern England, East Anglia, the Midlands and Wales, there should be clear skies before clouding over later tonight. You only need a small gap in the clouds to witness the supermoon. If you own a telescope, or even a pair of binoculars, you’re likely to see even more detail on the lunar surface than usual.

According to astronomers, Friday's Beaver moon will look around 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. This year has already brought three including the Blue Moon in August, September's Harvest moon and the Hunter's moon in October.

Supermoons normally happen around three to four times a year and is the phenomenon which occurs when a full moon is at its closest point in orbit to Earth, therefore appearing even bigger in size. This is known as a perigee.

A moon cycle phase typically lasts one month, and on earth we usually experience 12 full moons each year. The moon phases actually take 29.5 days to complete which means it takes just 354 days to complete 12 lunar cycles. So every 2.5 years or so a 13th extra full moon is observed within a calendar year. This 13th full moon doesn't conform to the normal naming scheme and is referred to as the Blue Moon.

NASA's Noah Petro, deputy scientist of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, told Space.com: "The main reason why the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle is that there are a lot of tidal, or gravitational, forces that are pulling on the moon." He added: "You have all of these different gravitational forces pulling and pushing on the moon, which gives us opportunities to have these close passes."