Let’s hope for clear skies Monday night as we will want to see a nice celestial event: a full harvest supermoon.
Look up Monday night — the moon’s putting on a show. WTOP Space Guy Greg Redfern joined us earlier here on WTOP to talk about what makes this so special. (WTOP)
Let’s hope for clear skies Monday night as we will want to see a nice celestial event: a full harvest supermoon.
The harvest full moon is the full moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox which happened last month. Usually, the harvest moon is in September but this year October has the closest full moon on Monday at 11:48 p.m.
In days gone by, farmers used the light of the full moon to harvest their crops — plus, there’s a lot folklore about the harvest full moon.
The term “supermoon” has made its way into every day usage but it is not an astronomical term. When the moon orbits the Earth each month it passes a point where it is closest and farthest to our planet, points of which are known as perigee and apogee, respectively.
When the new or full moon occurs within 24 hours of perigee, it is a perigee new or full moon, or what is now known as a supermoon. This full supermoon is the first one for 2025.
Technically, the moon will be brighter and a bit larger, but not readily discernible to the eye.
You can take pictures of the full harvest supermoon with your smartphone and/or camera. Take images and adjust as necessary. It will be best to image the moon as it is rising in the east around sunset, as it begins to get dark as the display of color and the moon illusion will be at their peak.
Enjoy the moonlight! Oh, and Tuesday night will be a moon-peat of Monday.
Be sure to check out the other sky delights of October.
Here’s to clear skies in the D.C. region, although we do need rain!
Follow Greg Redfern on Facebook, Bluesky and his daily blog to keep up with the latest news in astronomy and space exploration.
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