The upcoming full moon, known as the “hunter’s moon,” will appear on the evening of October 9, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
Full moons are a lunar phase that occurs roughly once every month when our natural satellite is located opposite the sun in space, with the Earth in between. As a result, every full moon rises around the time of sunset and sets around the time of sunrise.
During the full moon phase, the side of the moon that faces toward us is completely illuminated by the sun’s light, appearing like a perfect circle in the sky.
Technically, the moon turns full only at a specific moment. The hunter’s moon will reach peak illumination at around 4:54 p.m. ET on October 9. But for North American observers, it will be below the horizon at that time, and sky-gazers will have to wait until after sunset for it to appear.
While the moon actually turns full at a particular moment, it will appear full to most observers for about three days around this time.
Among the best times to view the full moon is around sunrise, when it may appear larger and have an orange hue. This is due to a phenomenon known as the “moon illusion,” which can be explained by a trick of the mind.
“As the moon drifts over the horizon around sunset, it may appear larger than it really is,” Catherine Boeckmann, senior digital editor at The Old Farmer’s Almanac, told Newsweek. “Your brain compares the moon to earthly objects in your view, such as buildings and trees, so it looks bigger than ever.”
She continued, “This low-hanging moon often appears more orange in color as well, due to Earth’s atmosphere. How fitting for the fall season!”
The naming conventions for the full moons are usually connected to a specific month of the year. But in the case of the hunter’s moon, the situation is slightly different.
The name “hunter’s moon” is always given to the first full moon to follow the harvest moon, which is linked to the date of the Northern Hemisphere’s autumnal equinox.
The harvest moon name is given to whichever full moon falls closest to the autumnal equinox—which this year occurred on September 22. Depending on how the lunar cycle lines up with the Gregorian calendar, the harvest moon can occur in September or October, although it usually arrives in the former month.
The hunter’s moon can occur in either October or November. In 2022, the harvest moon appeared on September 10, so the hunter’s moon will be visible in October, not November, given that a lunar cycle is just shy of a month long.
The September equinox marks the beginning of fall, in astronomical terms, in the Northern Hemisphere. But there are two ways to define the seasons. The astronomical definition is based on the movements of the Earth around the sun. The meteorological definition, on the other hand, is based instead on annual temperature cycles.
According to the meteorological definition, autumn in the Northern Hemisphere begins on September 1 rather than the date of the equinox.
During the Northern Hemisphere’s fall equinox, the Earth’s axis, which is tilted at an angle of about 23.4 degrees relative to the plane of its orbit around the sun, is pointed neither toward nor away from the sun. At this time, the sun shines directly over Earth’s equator, and the lengths of day and night are roughly equal.
