October’s full moon is supermoon, accompanied by meteor shower, comet

October’s full moon will be a supermoon, appearing bigger in the sky compared to other full moons.

NASA said the moon, which is called the Hunter’s Moon, will be full on Thursday, Oct 17, at 7:26 a.m. EDT, but will still appear to be full on Friday.

On Wednesday night, the moon will be at the perigee and the closest it will be to Earth. That will happen at about 8:57 p.m. EDT, NASA said.

It will be the third of four consecutive super moons and will be slightly brighter than the rest.

The first time it was referred to as the Hunter’s Moon was in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1710. The term comes from the time of year when the leaves fall and the deer are fat, perfect for hunting. Since fields have been harvested, hunters can see the animals more easily.

It is also called:

• Travel Moon
• Dying Grass Moon
• Sanguine or Blood Moon

While the moon may be the “star” of the show Wednesday into Thursday, it will have a spectacular backdrop thanks to the Orionids meteor shower and a comet, Earth.com reported.

Comet C/2023 A3 Tsuchinshan-ATLAS is traveling past Earth. The comet is “a celestial wanderer that’s been on an 80,000-year-long odyssey,” Earth.com said. It has been eons since it was seen by anyone on our planet, with Earth.com saying, “The last time it paid us a visit, our ancestors were just crafting civilizations.”

It was closest to us last week, but with a pair of binoculars and looking where the sun has gone down about an hour after sunset, you should be able to glimpse it, if the weather cooperates.

If that isn’t enough to leave your cozy home for some stargazing, the Orionids meteor shower is also streaking across the sky. The Orionids meteors are actually dust from Halley’s Comet that the Earth passes through. They hit our atmosphere at up to 148,000 miles per hour and ignite, creating streaks of light across the sky, Earth.com said.

To see them, look at Orion in the early morning before dawn.

© 2024 Cox Media Group