The Night Sky

When is the next full moon? When you can see the Beaver supermoon

The Beaver Moon will light up November skies as 2025’s brightest and closest full moon.

foto: cortesía | google

Scottish journalist and lifelong sports fan who grew up in Edinburgh playing and following football (soccer), cricket, tennis, golf, hockey… Joined Diario AS in 2012, becoming Director of AS USA in 2016 where he leads teams covering soccer, American sports (particularly NFL, NBA and MLB) and all the biggest news from around the world of sport.

Update: Oct 26th, 2025 19:08 EDT

What will happen when form collides with emptiness,

and what will happen when perception enters non-perception?

Come here with me, friend.

Let’s watch together.

Friend, what are you waiting for?

The bright moon shines above us.

There are no clouds tonight.

Why bother to ask about lamps and fire?

Why talk about cooking dinner?

Who is searching and who is finding?

Let us just enjoy the moon, all night.

The full moon is one of the great celestial spectacles, and it was the inspiration for that poem, “Full Moon Festival,” by Vietnamese Zen Buddhist monk, peace activist, and writer Thich Nhat Hanh, known as The Father of Mindfulness.

Having enjoyed the Hunter’s Moon at the start of October, many are now gazing up at the skies, waiting for the next full moon—and they won’t have long to wait. The Beaver Moon is coming, and it will be the largest and brightest full moon of the year.

When is the Beaver Moon at its fullest

The Beaver Moon reaches its very fullest on the morning of Wednesday, November 5, with peak illumination at 8:19 a.m. ET. At that precise moment, however, the Moon isn’t visible from the United States because it’s below the horizon, so the best time to see it is actually the evening before.

When is the best time to see the Beaver Moon

Because the Moon reaches fullness in the morning, when it’s below the horizon, the best viewing will be on the evening of Tuesday, November 4, rather than at its technical peak the following day.

On Tuesday evening, it will rise right around sunset—around 4:54 p.m. on the East Coast and 4:45 p.m. on the West Coast—glowing golden near the horizon before climbing high into the night sky. That’s when it will appear largest and brightest to the naked eye, as atmospheric haze and the so-called moon illusion make it seem especially striking.

When is the next full moon? When you can see the Beaver supermoon — An example of the moon illusion, at the Temple of Poseidon, near Athens. Louisa Gouliamaki

For early risers, there’s another chance to catch it setting in the west just before dawn on Wednesday—around 6:30 a.m. EST or 4:50 a.m. PST—when it will still be officially full and softly lit by the coming sunrise.

Why is it called the Beaver Moon?

The name Beaver Moon comes from Algonquian-speaking Native American tribes, who used each month’s full moon to mark seasonal changes. November was the time when beavers were hard at work reinforcing their dams and storing food before winter froze the waterways—and when trappers set out to capture them for their thick winter pelts. Later adopted by early settlers and popularized by the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Beaver Moon came to represent preparation and endurance—a quiet moment of industry before the long, cold months ahead.

Why is the Beaver Moon a supermoon?

A supermoon occurs when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth, making it appear larger and brighter in the sky.

Astronomers use what’s known as the “10% rule” to decide whether a full moon counts as a supermoon. The Moon’s distance from Earth changes each month because its orbit is slightly oval, ranging from about 252,000 miles at its farthest point (apogee) to roughly 221,500 miles at its closest (perigee).

According to the rule—first set out by astrologer Richard Nolle—a full moon qualifies as a supermoon if it occurs when the Moon is within 90% of its closest possible distance, or about within 22,000 miles of perigee. That means not every supermoon is the closest of the year, but any full moon that falls inside that 10% window looks a little bigger and brighter than the rest.

This year’s Beaver Moon supermoon will see the Moon just 221,817 miles from Earth—its closest full-moon distance of the year, and very near the closest the Moon ever comes to our planet.

As Thich Nhat Hanh wrote, “Let us just enjoy the moon, all night.” The Beaver Moon invites us to pause, look up, and find a moment of quiet wonder beneath the brightest lunar light of the year.