Beaver Supermoon: The biggest, brightest full moon of the year rises tonight

Skywatchers will see the biggest and brightest full moon of the year tonight. Turning full at 8:19 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Nov. 5, the Beaver Moon is the second of three consecutive supermoons to see out 2025.

The moon will also appear bright and full on Tuesday (Nov. 4) and Thursday (Nov. 6).

The biggest supermoon of the year will be about 221,818 miles (356,980 kilometers) from Earth, the closest of any full moon this year, according to AstroPixels. That makes it the closest full moon since February 2019.

Beaver Moon is the name generally given to November's full moon in North America. It's named after the time of year when nocturnal beavers in the northeastern U.S. and Canada are busy building their winter dams under the light of the full moon, according to Timeanddate. It is also sometimes called the Frost Moon, Snow Moon, Trading Moon, Mourning Moon and Darkest Depths Moon. Anishinaabeg people call November's moon Baashkaakodin Giizis, which means the Freezing Moon, according to the Center for Native American Studies.

This year's Beaver Moon is the second of three supermoons in 2025, following October's Harvest Moon, and with December's Cold Moon also destined to look larger than usual.

A supermoon occurs because the moon's orbit is elliptical, so it sometimes reaches its closest point to Earth — its perigee — during a full moon. The full moon appears about 14% bigger and 30% brighter during perigee than it does at its farthest point from Earth (its apogee), according to NASA. January's Wolf Moon will also be a supermoon.

Although the moon will be officially full on Wednesday, the best views will be had on Thursday, Nov. 6. A full moon typically looks its best as it appears on the eastern horizon during early twilight, soon after sunset. For a supermoon, this is especially the case, because it is the time when it looks very large on the horizon.

To see any full moon — and particularly a supermoon — at its best, it is important to know the exact time of moonrise where you are. Full moons are easily appreciated with the naked eye, but looking at one through a pair of stargazing binoculars or a good backyard telescope can help you spot specific details of the lunar surface, including craters and lunar landing sites.

As viewed on Nov. 6, the moon will appear in the constellation Taurus very close to the Pleiades, an open cluster of stars.

Editor's note: This article was updated on Monday (Nov. 3) with additional information on when and how to view the moon.