A supermoon will appear in our skies on Friday night. This will be the last supermoon of 2024. It’s also called “Beaver Moon”.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) announced on Tuesday, November 12, that this year’s last supermoon or Beaver Moon will be seen on Friday, November 15, starting 4:29 pm EST. In India, the supermoon could be seen at 2:59 am on Saturday.
“This Moon is extra special as it’s the final Supermoon of 2024, meaning the Moon will appear bigger and brighter than usual,” NASA said.
What is a ‘Supermoon’
NASA said that the term “supermoon” was coined in 1979 and occurs when a full Moon coincides with its closest approach to Earth.
“The Moon doesn’t orbit in a perfect circle. Instead, the Moon orbits Earth in an ellipse, an oval that brings it closer to and farther from Earth as it travels around,” the US space agency explained.
It added that the farthest point in this ellipse is about 253,000 miles from Earth on average. Its closest point is the perigee, which is an average distance of about 226,000 miles from Earth.
“Full moons can occur at any point along the Moon’s elliptical path, but when a full moon occurs at or near the perigee, it looks slightly larger and brighter than the ‘average’ full moon – which inspires the term ‘supermoon’,” NASA said.
Supermoons are not rare and occur as a regular part of the Moon’s orbit of Earth, said NASA research scientist Dennis Gallagher. “The Moon’s orbit takes it around the Earth about once every 27 and one-third days,” said Gallagher. “That time of closest approach to Earth, or perigee, happens three or four times each year due to the motions of Earth and the Moon around the Sun,” Gallagher said.
Why is it called the Beaver Moon?
Beaver Moon is one of the nicknames for the November full Moon. The term has origins from a variety of traditions and folklore in Native American and European culture.
One explanation is that — November is when beavers prepare for the winter by fortifying dams and stocking their food supply. November was also the season to trap beavers for their thick, winter-ready pelts to use for warmer clothing.
