As the year’s penultimate month kicks off, the year’s brightest supermoon is almost here. The Full Beaver Moon rises on Wednesday, November 5 and you can view it through Thursday, November 6. While this is the second in a series of three consecutive supermoons, it will be brighter than December’s Cold Moon. Here is what you need to know.
When is November’s supermoon?
November’s full moon will reach peak illumination in the US Wednesday, November 5, 2025, at 8:19 a.m. EST.
However, since the sun will already be up for many of us, be sure to look out on Wednesday and Thursday evenings, as the moon rises in the east during twilight. You can use this handy moonrise and moonset calculator from the Farmer’s Almanac to calculate when the moon rises and sets where you live.
What is a supermoon?
November’s full moon is only the second supermoon of 2025 and it is expected to be its brightest. The moon will come within about 222,000 miles of Earth this week.
When the moon orbits the Earth, it does not follow a perfect circle. As it moves around our home planet, it will get nearer and farther in more of an elliptical shape.
Supermoons occur when the full moon is closer to Earth in its orbit. NASA says the full moon may look up to 14 percent bigger and about 30 percent brighter than the faintest moon of the year. April’s Pink Moon was the faintest full moon of 2025.
Why is it called the Beaver Moon?
Every full moon has names that generally come from Native American tradition. The name Beaver Moon refers to the time of year when beavers begin to take shelter in their lodges, according to the Farmer’s Almanac. By November in North America, these ace ecosystem engineers already have enough food stores for the long winter and hunker down in their lodges along rivers and streams. During the height of the fur trade in North America, autumn was also the season to trap beavers, as their pelts were thick and ready for winter.
According to the Center for Native American Studies, November’s full moon is also sometimes called “Baashkaakodin Giizis,” or the Freezing Moon.
Does the supermoon affect tides?
Earth’s tides are caused by the gravitational pull between our oceans, the sun, and the moon. When the moon is closer to the Earth during a supermoon, the gravitational pull is slightly stronger and the tides are bigger. Yet this effect does not really make a huge difference, since there are only a few inches of difference between a regular moon tide and a supermoon tide, according to Royal Museums Greenwich in the United Kingdom.
The full moon and new moon tides can actually be bigger than those at other times during the lunar month, even a super moon. When the sun adds its own gravitational pull a strong spring or king tide is generated due to all of the water “springing forth” during a full and new moon.
The same general skygazing rules are key when looking up at the supermoon. Try and travel to a dark spot away from the bright lights of a city or town and let your eyes adjust to the darkness for about a half an hour. You can also consult these handy tips to photograph the moon like a pro.
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