It's the full Beaver Moon this Friday, and also the last supermoon of the year

See my news
Follow News

The celestial vault will have spoiled ordinary mortals for several months. Between the splendid Northern Lights and the magnificent comet Tsunchinchan-Atlas, we were also treated to three super Moons in a row.

This Friday, November 15, 2024 will mark the fourth, and last, of the year. We are talking here about the super Beaver Moon.

In truth, nothing too crazy

NASA, a true reference in astronomical matters, evokes a Moon “ slightly brighter » than usual. It also specifies that a super Moon is 14% larger than a micro Moon (the opposite). However, there is no reason to go crazy: it doesn't change anything if you observe it with the naked eye.

Eventually, “at the time of Moon rising and setting, which varies depending on the location of observation, there is a magnifying effect with the layers of the atmosphere”, as indicated last year by Gilles Dawidowicz, the vice-president of the Astronomical Society of France to actu.fr.

Some also mention a phenomenon of Orange tint to the Moon. It's a possibility, but super Moon doesn't mean Orange Moon. And neither is the reverse.

“It’s a phenomenon that happens regularly, when the Moon is not very high in the sky,” explained, toactu.frJean-Pierre Martin, nuclear physicist and president of the Cosmology Commission of the French Astronomical Society.

Super Beaver Moon?

This Friday, November 15 will also be the opportunity to observe the (super, therefore) full Beaver Moon.

Afterwards, it's not because the rodents are organizing a procession this Friday. Nor is it because the Moon will be tooth-shaped.

The nickname comes from the Old Farmers' Almanac, an old book that lists the nicknames that Native Americans gave to full Moons, even before the colonization of America. A document that NASA still uses today, for informational purposes only.

A nickname per full moon

All 12 or 13 (depending on the year) full Moons have been given a little nickname. Native Americans named them according to one or more events associated with the month in question.

For example, the full Moon in May is the Flower Moon, or flowers, because that's about when the majority of plants give their buds. February is the Snow Moon, because it often happened, at the time, that it snowed in February. This November, the beavers are slowly starting to retreat to hibernate. Hence the nickname of the full Moon of this penultimate month of the year.

We might as well have called it “Hedgehog Moon”, or “Marmot Moon”.

Follow all the news from your favorite cities and media by subscribing to Mon Actu.