The Beaver Moon, which was rising just after 3.30pm on November 15, marked the fourth supermoon of the year.
However, Friday’s full moon was further away from Earth than the previous two – September’s Harvest Moon and October’s Hunter’s Moon – and by some astronomers’ definitions it is not actually a supermoon.
In Sussex, Sue Barnett captured a moody shot of the moon, while Joanna Kaczorowska got a detailed close up of it from her garden in Bognor.
The Beaver Moon from Bognor (Image: Joanna Kaczorowska) Ahead of the moon’s appearance Dr Edward Bloomer, senior astronomy manager at Royal Observatory Greenwich, said: “The supermoon definition is not particularly strict.
“The general rule that most people adhere to, although astronomers like to argue about this, is that it is within ten per cent of its closest approach to Earth.”
Another definition for a supermoon is that it has be within 360,000 kilometres of Earth.
Dr Bloomer said that Friday’s Beaver Moon was going to be “nice and bright” and should be “pretty easy” to spot as long as the weather “holds out”.
Dr Darren Baskill, physics and astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex, said the Beaver Moon would look like “any other full moon”, but as winter approaches, full moons are higher in the sky which makes them more prominent.
The full moon’s name is given to reflect what is happening in nature during the month in which the full moon appears.
Dr Baskill said: “Beavers are most active at dawn and dusk and they can be seen beavering away overnight by the light of this aptly named full moon.”
The next supermoon will not be until November 5, 2025.
