Tonight, Vietnam welcomes the super beaver moon rising among the "seven sisters"

(NLĐO) - The November moon, often called the "beaver moon" in the West, will be the last supermoon of 2024.

According to Time and Date magazine, by the morning of November 15th, the Moon had reached 99% fullness, preparing for a spectacular display as night falls: the fourth and final supermoon of the year.

Westerners often give interesting nicknames to the full moon, with the November moon often called the "beaver moon" because it falls during the time when beavers build dams in winter. It also has some less common nicknames such as the "ice moon" or the "snow moon".

In 2024, before the beaver moon appeared, we had the opportunity to admire the sturgeon supermoon (August), the harvest supermoon (September), and the hunter supermoon (October).

A supermoon as seen from the US - Photo: TIME AND DATE

A supermoon is the term used for the full moon that coincides with the satellite being in its closest 10% of Earth's orbit in its elliptical path, making it appear larger than usual.

The November beaver supermoon will reach its fullness at 4:28 AM on November 16th (Vietnam time), so the best time to observe it will be on the night of November 15th and the early morning of November 16th.

But to see the supermoon at its "greatest," you should observe it when the moon is low in the sky, that is, right as the sun sets on November 15th.

At that time, the "moon mirage" phenomenon, caused by looking through the thick atmosphere and the viewing angle, will make the supermoon appear a beautiful pinkish-orange color and seem even larger.

The moon wasn't perfectly full at that time, but you'd hardly notice the difference.

Astronomer Fred Espenak, an expert at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, calculated that at its closest point to Earth, the Moon was only 361,866 km from Earth at its perigee on the morning of November 16.

The light show on the night of November 15th and the early morning of November 16th will be even more exciting with the "seven sisters" appearing very close to the supermoon, below and slightly to the left.

Those seven beautiful bright spots are the Pleiades, a scattered star cluster located in the constellation Taurus.

The Latin name Pleiades is derived from the name of the seven Pleiades, daughters of the giant god Atlas and the sea goddess Pleione in Greek mythology.

Source: https://nld.com.vn/dem-nay-viet-nam-don-sieu-trang-hai-ly-moc-giua-bay-chi-em-196241115094127347.htm