HOUSTON – This week we will have a supermoon in addition to a visible comet! This means the moon will appear bigger and brighter for the third month in a row. We’ll have clear skies in Southeast Texas and it should be comfortable outside thanks to Tuesday’s cold front!
The October full moon is called the “Hunter’s Moon” because October is the time of year that used to signal big hunts and food collections ahead of winter.
This will be the biggest and brightest supermoon of the year because it’s at its closest approach to earth compared to the others.
Supermoon:
A “supermoon” is defined as the moon reaching its complete phase at perigee. Perigee is the closest point of the moon to the Earth in its rotation. The moon travels around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, not a perfect circle. This creates a near point and a far point. If the moon is within 90% of this closest point it, is considered a supermoon.
Between 1900 and 2050, the moon has reached full phase close enough to perigee 19 times, or an average of once about every eight years, which, again, isn’t all that rare.
The irony:
The term supermoon isn’t a scientific term. Astrologer Richard Nolle coined the term in 1979. Since then, the name has been accepted by the scientific community.
We’d love to see your pictures of the Super Hunter’s Moon. Please share them with us on Click2Pins!
