Supermoon

Biggest Supermoon of 2024: Hunters, Comets, and Meteor Showers, Oh My!

Get ready to have your mind blown by October's supermoon—it's the biggest of the year, shining bright alongside a comet and the Orionids! 🌕✨

Mark your calendars, stargazers! The night of October 17th is set to dazzle skywatchers across the US with the Hunter’s supermoon—the largest and brightest full moon of 2024. This celestial event is the third of four supermoons this year and will reach its peak at precisely 7:26 AM ET. However, the best time to catch this lunar marvel is just before it sets, as the moon will be closest to Earth during its orbit around 8:00 AM that morning. So, grab your friends, a comfy blanket, and prepare for an incredible sight!

For those scratching their heads wondering what exactly a supermoon is, it’s simple! This phenomenon occurs when the moon reaches its closest point to Earth, making it appear 14% larger and 30% brighter than usual. Perfectly timed with the arrival of autumn, this Hunter’s moon shimmers like a diamond, bathing everything beneath it in soft hues of silver and lavender. Residents in Ohio, Rockford, Illinois, and beyond are bracing themselves for an enchanting night of stargazing, dreaming about what they might see in the sky.

But wait, there’s more! This month’s supermoon doesn’t come alone. It will be joined by the Orionids meteor shower, which peaks around October 21st to 22nd. So, if you venture outside on the night of the Hunter’s supermoon, you may just be treated to a double feature of shooting stars whizzing through the night sky. How’s that for a cosmic party? If you’re lucky, you might even catch sight of a rare comet as it orbits nearby, putting on a show of its own!

In addition to enjoying the heavenly sights, why not dive into some fun moon trivia? Did you know that the Hunter's moon name comes from the tradition of hunting in the fall to prepare for winter? It has also been said that a full moon during hunting season was advantageous for tracking and capturing game. And speaking of the cosmos, our moon is around 4.5 billion years old—older than the Earth itself! So this October, as you gaze up at that magnificent shining orb, remember that you're looking at a piece of history—a beacon of adventure waiting to be explored! Get ready to be moonstruck!