Hunter's Supermoon Rising Tonight

Tonight we usher the full Hunter's Supermoon into the twilight of a mid-October evening. From Angle-European traditions many say the moom takes its name from the beginning of hunting season. It's a logical progression from last month's Harvest Moon - also a supermoon - when farmers could gather their crops under the moonlight. This month they could hunt a variety of game feeding on remants in the empty fields.

The Moon

by Robert Louis Stevenson

The moon has a face like the clock in the hall;

She shines on thieves on the garden wall,

On streets and fields and harbour quays,

And birdies asleep in the forks of the trees.

The squalling cat and the squeaking mouse,

The howling dog by the door of the house,

The bat that lies in bed at noon,

All love to be out by the light of the moon.

But all of the things that belong to the day

Cuddle to sleep to be out of her way;

And flowers and children close their eyes

Till up in the morning the sun shall arise.

I always enjoy the Hunter's Moon because its arrival also means that the constllation, Orion the Hunter, rises out of the eastern horizon around midnight and domininates the southern sky until dawn.

You may recognize Orion even better without all the imagination. You won't be alone as Orion is the by far as the world's best known constellation. It's hard to miss the belt and scabbard.

October also brings us three important meteor showers. The Draconid shower peaked about a week ago. The waning Hunter's Moon coincides with the peak of the  Orionid shower on October 21 when you can expect to see up to twenty meteors per hour. The Taurid shower - actually two overlapping showers - is slowly building to a peak from late October to early November. The moon will have a minimal impact on viewing so you have a good opportunity to see some fireballs expected this year.

Into late October northern hemisphere sky viewers have an opportunity to see Comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS (also known as C/2023 A3 or simply as Comet A3) which hasn't been seen from Earth for 80,000 years. It's at its brightest now and will be easy to spot as a naked eye object by looking toward the western horizon about about 45 minutes after sunset.

Hope you enjoy this double treat tonight. It's going to be a long wait to see this event again.