20 hours Ago By Country Living
– That's because the full moon, appearing on Thursday 17th October, is set to be biggest supermoon of the year so far. The third consecutive full supermoon of 2024, it’s also the closest full moon of the year. According to astronomer Fred Espenak, October’s full Hunter’s Moon will swing by Earth at a distance of only 357,364km (222,056 miles) away.
What’s more, there’s plenty of history and noteworthy features about this full moon and the seasonal and weather shifts it signals. As the name suggests, the Hunter’s Moon traditionally marked the time to store meat for the winter months. Below is everything to know about this week's Hunter's Moon and how to see it in the UK.
.. This year, the Hunter's Moon will take place just after midday on at 12.
26pm. It will then rise at 5.56pm BST, but will be visible throughout the night.
The Moon will appear full for approximately three days around this time. The best time to see the Hunter's Moon is when the moon rises above the Northwestern horizon at 6.02pm tonight (BST), on Thursday 17 October.
The MET Office also forecasts dry weather and patches of clear sky, so there should be plenty of opportunities to see it. The Hunter's Moon comes once a year and is always the after autumn's Harvest Moon. It gets its name as it occurs at the time of year when hunters would traditionally have been most active – planning for the winter months ahead and hunting animals for food.
Though usually in October, the Hunter's Moon can fall in November on rare occasions. That's because, like the Harvest Moon, its date is determined by the , one of the two times of year when the sun aligns with Earth's equator. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, and the Hunter's Moon follows.
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