It’s hard to miss, but you may still want to mark your calendars.
A full moon will illuminate Metro Vancouver skies next week and be one of the year’s final full moons.
But October’s full moon will be the final seemingly regular-sized moon of the year. November and December will feature supermoons, appearing roughly 15 per cent brighter and seven per cent bigger than a regular moon.
EarthSky notes that astronomers usually call supermoons perigean full moons, a term indicating that the moon is “near Earth.”
October’s full moon, often called the full “hunter” moon, will appear at its fullest in the Lower Mainland on Oct. 25 at 9:11 p.m., according to timeanddate.com.
October’s full moon derived its name because it happened when people hunted to prepare for a long winter. It’s often referred to as the Sanguine or Blood Moon, “either associated with the blood from hunting or the turning of the leaves in autumn.” The Old Farmer’s Almanac notes that Indigenous Peoples would give distinctive names to each recurring full moon to mark the changing seasons.
Why isn’t the October full moon called the Harvest Moon?
Last year, the October full moon was coined the full harvest moon because it fell closer to the fall equinox on Sept. 22 than September’s full moon. This year, the September moon, known popularly as the full “corn” moon, lit the sky on Sept. 26, placing it closer to the autumn event.
This means it could either happen in September or October, depending on when the full moons are.
The Metro Vancouver weather forecast is the only factor that may complicate moon gazing. Skywatchers can use Environment Canada’s online cloud prediction tool to see when the sky may be clear.