EYES TO THE SKIES FOR OCTOBER’S FULL MOON - THE “HARVEST” MOON! ALSO A “SUPER” MOON! 💖🌕🔭🛰✨️ - 06/10/25
On the evening of the 6th into the morning of the 7th of October (weather permitting) we will hopefully be treated to views of October’s beautiful full moon which is known to some as the “Hunter’s” Moon but this year is known as the “Harvest” Moon.
This October’s full moon will also be what is known as a “Super” Moon, and will appear larger and brighter than usual too!
Although the full Moon may not be the astrophotographer's best of friends, the full Moon always makes for a beautiful sight in the night sky and is an important marker of the seasons for many people.
If you would like to know more about this month’s full moon, what a Super Moon is, plus when and where to see the Harvest Moon, please read on…
WHAT IS A FULL MOON?
A full Moon occurs when its position in its orbit around Earth is at its furthest distance from the Sun (almost on the opposite side of the Earth compared to the Sun). This event, when the Earth stands almost directly between the Sun and Moon is also known as a Syzygy. When this happens, the side of the Moon that can be seen from Earth is completely illuminated, giving it the appearance of being full.
On rare occasions the Earth can stand directly in between the Sun and Moon resulting in a lunar eclipse.
WHAT IS A SUPER MOON?
October’s full moon is what we call a super moon and will be the first of three consecutive super moons this year.
The term super moon is the more popular way of referring to an astronomical event known to scientists as perigee-syzygy. This describes the confluence of two events:
Perigee, when the moon is at its closest to Earth along its orbit of our planet (at least 90% perigee means the moon constitutes as a super moon) in fact the moon will be only around 360,000 km away from Earth at the point of perigee-syzygy.
Syzygy, when the Earth, Moon and Sun are aligned making the Moon fully illuminated (a full moon).
During a super moon the Moon will appear brighter and larger than an average full moon. On average, super moons are said to be about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical full Moon. According to NASA, a super moon will appear up to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than the smallest full moon (when the Moon is at apogee, it’s furthest distance away from Earth).
THE "HARVEST" MOON
The full moon of each month has been given names by many cultures and peoples throughout history. The most commonly known full moon names are derived from Native American tribes. The Native American tribes gave distinctions to moons based on the time of year and the weather’s relationships to crop harvests and appearance of certain animals or animal behaviours.
The full Moon of October is usually known as the “Hunter’s” Moon, however this Octobers full moon is particularly special as it is the full moon which falls nearest to the autumnal equinox (whereby the day and night are roughly the same length). The Full Moon closest to the Autumn equinox is often known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon usually occurs during September, however this year it occurs during the month of October.
Some sources suggest that the Harvest Moon name has origins as early as the 700’s found in Germanic and Anglo-Saxon literature. Either way, the importance of the Harvest Moon is very much the same for people across the Northern Hemisphere.
As the farmers prepared to gather their crops each autumn, they looked to the Harvest Moon as a sign that it was time to harvest. At the end of Summer, crops that were seeded in Spring are now ready to be harvested. It is the final harvest of the year, so crops, fruit and grain such as corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice are harvested and stored to last through the winter months.
At the peak of the harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Unlike other moons, this full moon rises at nearly the same time (around sunset) for several evenings in a row, giving farmers extra evenings of moonlight to gather their crops before the frosts of autumn arrive.
SCIENTIFIC EXPLANATION FOR THE MOON’S RISE TIMES AROUND THE HARVEST MOON
Typically, the Moon rises around 50 minutes later each day, but around the time of the Harvest Moon, the Moon rises only around 20 minutes later. The reason for this is because of a combination of the Earth’s rotation and the Moon’s orbit around the Earth.
The Moon appears to travel along a path along the night sky called the Ecliptic. The Ecliptic is usually at a fairly steep angle in comparison to the Earth’s equator and our visual horizon, however, around the time of the Harvest Moon, the Ecliptic’s angle is much closer to the Earths equator. This almost being in line together, gives the effect of the Moon rise time being more similar for a few days around the time of the Harvest Moon.
The further North you are the more pronounced this effect is. At the opposite end of the year, around March’s Worm Moon the effect is the opposite, with the Moon’s rise times being at their most different between days.
WHEN AND WHERE WILL THE FULL MOON OCCUR?
This month, the Moon will reach peak illumination 06:16 BST on the morning of the 7th of October. This means the night where the Moon will appear most full will be the night of the 6th into the morning of the 7th.
The Moon will rise on the night of the 6th at around 18:00 BST towards the East. As the night progresses the Moon will climb in the sky travelling Southwards. The Moon will reach an altitude of 41 degrees at its highest point in the sky at roughly 00:37 BST on the morning of the 7th towards the South. Following this, the Moon will begin to descend travelling towards the West where it will set in the morning skies at around 07:39 BST.
Remember that you don’t really need to know the exact time of peak illumination to enjoy viewing the full Moon, as the Moon will appear full throughout the night and on the nights surrounding the peak.
WHERE AMONG THE STARS CAN THE MOON BE FOUND?
On the night of the 6th our natural satellite will be hitching a ride in the zodiacal constellation of Pisces - the fishes.
More specifically, the Moon can be found around 12 degrees to the left of the bright planet Saturn and about 11 degrees below the bottom-left star of the great square of Pegasus – the bright star Algenib.
The zodiacal constellation of Pisces can be found below the distinct asterism of the great square of Pegasus.
LUNAR OBSERVATION
The great thing about observing the Moon is that we don’t have to go and find a particularly dark location to view it. As the Moon is such a bright object in the sky, we can view it from brighter locations, even from the centre of a heavily light polluted city. Weather permitting of course.
MOON RISE/SET – MOON ILLUSION
It's always lovely to watch the moon rise/set, so if you can head out to witness the Moon rise or set, please do. Every time the Moon rises and sets it takes on a beautiful golden, amber colour and appears larger at this time too, due to an optical illusion known as the ‘Moon illusion’. It's truly special to witness. As it rises and glides higher it’s colour will transition into a bright white.
Sometimes the Moon can appear even more orangey red than usual too! The hue of the moon typically depends on atmospheric conditions wherever you’re viewing it from. Things like clouds, dust, haze, smoke or pollution can cause the moon to appear different colours by scattering much of the blue light shining onto our natural satellite, leaving it with a more reddish tone.
OTHER CELESTIAL TREATS
There are a number of other celestial treats about at this moment in time too. Here is a small selection of celestial treats to look out for:
- We have a number of meteor showers active at this moment in time including the Southern Taurid, the Draconid, and the Orionid meteor showers. Although the full moon will drown out all but the brightest of these meteors, it is still worth keeping an eye out for those beautiful streaks of light known as shooting stars.
- The asterism known as the Summer Triangle is a prominent asterism in our current night time skies and can help you find where to view our home galaxy the Milky Way. The brightest stars of the constellations Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila – the stars Deneb, Vega and Altair respectively, create a huge triangle in the night sky known as the Summer Triangle. They are located in a bright section of the Milky Way known as the Cygnus region. The body of the swan Cygnus also creates a cross like shape known as the Northern Cross. If you follow the length of the cross and continue tracing along the direction of this line, this can show you where the rest of the Milky Way stretches across the sky.
- The great Hercules globular star cluster M13 in the constellation of Hercules is an awe-inspiring sight when viewed through binoculars or a telescope and is also visible to the naked eye under favourable conditions. The glow from this Summer time treat (created from a super dense concentration of stars) is fairly easy to see in our night time skies and we recommend you try to find it with your binoculars or telescope.
- Our closest galactical neighbour, the amazing Andromeda Galaxy can be spotted to the eye as a small, faint and fuzzy elliptical shape in the constellation of Andromeda.
- The radiant open star cluster the Pleaides (aka the Seven Sisters) can be found in the constellation of Taurus.
- We are now truly within what many people consider the Aurora season! Due to the skies becoming darker, chances of viewing the Aurora are now much higher and the Aurora may now be seen dancing on our Northern horizons on nights of strong auroral activity. Typically the bright Moon tends to wash the aurora out, however occasionally there are displays that are so strong they are visible despite the moonlight.
This October is also a fairly good time to spot some bright planets…
- For the early birds or all night stargazers, the brilliantly bright planet Venus can currently be fairly easily seen shining brightly at an impressive magnitude of -3.91 towards the East in the early morning just before sunrise.
- The amazing ringed planet Saturn is now very easy to spot riding high in the night sky and will appear to the right of the Moon. Saturn can currently be observed in the constellation of Aquarius just below the great square of Pegasus.
- The gas giant Jupiter is also now fairly easy to spot located in the constellation of Gemini during the early morning skies. Look to the East during the early morning hours and you will be able to spot the bright planet Jupiter.
GET A CLOSER LOOK
If you own a pair of binoculars or a telescope, you can get an even closer look at the Moon, stars and other celestial treats, revealing fantastic details. The Moon with its mares and craters, the planets and the radiant Andromeda Galaxy, Pleiades star cluster and the Hercules cluster are all amazing to view using binoculars or a telescope.
WHAT ELSE IS IN THE NIGHT SKY THROUGHOUT OCTOBER?
If you would like to know more about the rest of the celestial treats that can be seen in the skies throughout October, please head to our YouTube channel to watch our Night Sky Guide video for October 2025.
SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES!
We always love hearing about your celestial adventures! If you head out to witness this special celestial event or any other sights in the night sky, please feel free to share your stories in the comments below. 😊
GOOD LUCK AND CLEAR SKIES
This month’s full Moon will be a beautiful sight, and with it being a Super Moon will make this Octobers full Moon even more special! So if you can, we recommend heading out to witness this October’s full Super Moon!
Good luck if you head out folks. Wrap up warm if you do. Any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.
Clear skies 💖
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