A supermoon is to appear on Friday evening, which will be the last time to see the phenomenon until November next year.
The Beaver Moon, which was rising just after 3.30pm on November 15, marks the fourth supermoon of the year.
However, Friday’s full moon is further away from Earth than the previous two – September’s Harvest Moon and October’s Hunter’s Moon – and by some astronomers’ definitions it is not actually a supermoon.
Dr Edward Bloomer, senior astronomy manager at Royal Observatory Greenwich, said: “The supermoon definition is not particularly strict.
“The general rule that most people adhere to, although astronomers like to argue about this, is that it is within 10% of its closest approach to Earth.”
Another definition for a supermoon is that it has be within 360,000 kilometres of Earth.
Dr Bloomer said that Friday’s Beaver Moon is going to be “nice and bright” and should be “pretty easy” to spot as long as the weather “holds out”.
To catch a glimpse, Dr Bloomer advises giving your eyes time to adjust to the dark by avoiding looking at phones and staying away from streetlamps.
Dr Darren Baskill, physics and astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex, said the Beaver Moon tonight will look like “any other full moon”, but as winter approaches, full moons are higher in the sky which makes them more prominent.
The full moon’s name is given to reflect what is happening in nature during the month in which the full moon appears.
Dr Baskill said: “Beavers are most active at dawn and dusk and they can be seen beavering away overnight by the light of this aptly named full moon.”
After tonight’s Beaver Moon, the next supermoon will not be until November 5 2025.
Met Office spokesperson Grahame Madge said: “The best chances for seeing tonight’s supermoon are really in parts of southern England and as early after sunset as possible.
“There will be more cloud from the Midlands and further north, but clearer skies further south.
“Fog is likely to develop across the south of England later in the evening. Viewers in other areas may have opportunities as clouds break.
“Viewers in the Northern Isles may also have a good chance as clearer skies associated with the drop in temperature will aid viewing.”
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here