November Full Moon: Why is the Moon so BIG tonight? Stargazers prepare for dazzling Moon
NOVEMBER’S Full Moon, the so-called Beaver’s Moon or Frost Moon, is just around the corner but stargazers are already noticing its larger-than-usual appearance.
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The Full Moon will peak this week early on the morning of Friday, November 23, while most of Britain is still asleep. Astronomers are expecting the lunar orb to reach its Full Moon peak at around 5.39am GMT (UTC). Once this happens, the sunlit face of the Moon will be 100 percent illuminated, bathing the Earth in its cold, bright glow.
But if you take a moment to look at the night skies right now you will notice the Moon is already looking spectacularly large and bright.
This is because the so-called Waxing Gibbous Moon is already more than 97 percent illuminated tonight.
To the casual observer, the Moon will always appear full up to a day or two before and after the Full Moon.
But anyone with a telescope powerful enough to hone in on the Earth’s natural satellite should be able to spot the difference between a Full Moon and a Waxing or Waning Gibbous Moon.
Why is the Moon so big tonight?
As the Moon barrels through space, both around the Earth and the Sun, the same sunlit side of the Moon faces our home planet every day.
At all times, half of the Moon faces the Earth and the other half faces the Sun.
But as the Moon revolves around the Sun, the amount of sunlight bounced off of the Moon is different every night.
Space agency NASA explained: “The Moon has no light of its own. Moonlight is sunlight bouncing off the Moon's surface.
“As the Moon orbits Earth, the Sun lights up whatever side of the Moon is facing it.
“To the Sun, it's always a Full Moon.”
Because we see the Moon from the centre of its orbit, we see different portions of the sunlit side of the Moon.
To the Sun, it's always a Full Moon
These differences are the Moon’s so-called lunar phases.
The four main phases are the dark New Moon at the start of a lunar cycle, the First Quarter Moon, the fully lit Full Moon and the Third Quarter Moon.
Each lunar cycle lasts around 28 to 29 days and starts and ends on a New Moon.
The Full Moon marks the midway point of the cycle when the Moon sits behind the Earth and faces the Sun head-on.
NASA said: “As the bright parts of the Moon appear to change shape during the month, each stage of the change is called a phase, and each phase carries its own name.”
The Moon will next enter the Third Quarter phase, when its left side is illuminated, on November 30.
The lunar orb will then disappear from sight, the New Moon, on December 7.