What is a Super Hunter’s Moon? Tonight’s full moon explained

According to EarthSky writer Deborah Boyd, it’s the close location to the horizon that gives the Hunter’s Moon its warm colour. “The orange colour of a moon near the horizon is a true physical effect,” Boyd explains. “It stems from the fact that – when you look toward the horizon – you are looking through a greater thickness of Earth’s atmosphere than when you gaze up and overhead. The atmosphere scatters blue light – that’s why the sky looks blue. The greater thickness of atmosphere in the direction of a horizon scatters blue light most effectively, but it lets red light pass through to your eyes. So a full moon near the horizon – any full moon near the horizon – takes on a yellow or orange or reddish hue.”

The moon will look even bigger and brighter this year, because it’s coinciding with a supermoon. A supermoon occurs when the moon is at its closest point to Earth during its orbit. This results in the moon appearing around 14% larger in the sky, which is also why the Hunter’s Moon will look particularly amazing this month. And if you miss it? The next supermoon is forecast for 14 November, when we can expect to see the largest full moon of the year.

Despite the name, the supermoon doesn’t have a super effect on us. “The effects of a supermoon are imperceptible, and far smaller than those encountered in other everyday situations, such as being near a mountain or even a large building,” says astronomy expert Larry Sessions.

We won’t keep our fingers crossed for sitings of miraculous superpowers, then.