Map Shows Best Places to See Beaver Supermoon Tonight

Tonight’s full moon is the last chance to see a supermoon in 2024—the fourth in back-to-back months.
Known as the Beaver Moon, tonight’s full moon will appear larger and brighter than usual as our largest satellite cozies up to Earth.
While the moon is, in theory, universally visible across the U.S., one crucial factor could hamper stargazers’ plans to witness the event—the weather.
Clear skies are required, which fortunately much of the country can expect, particularly the South.
However, not everyone will be so lucky. Large portions of the Midwest, including Indiana and Ohio, are in for a night of almost total cloud cover. So too are portions of the West, particularly Montana.
The western portion of California should remain cloud free, though the eastern half is in for a mixed picture throughout the night.
A supermoon is a popular term used to describe a full moon that appears larger and brighter than usual. However, the term lacks a strict definition, leading to varying interpretations.
Darren Baskill, a physics and astronomy lecturer at the University of Sussex in the U.K., previously explained to Newsweek: “The term ‘supermoon’ is a vague, nonscientific term, and so different people define it in different ways.
“One common definition is to say that we have a supermoon when the moon is within 90 percent of its average distance away from the Earth—but which average distance? Some say within 90 percent of the average Earth-moon separation for that particular month, while others say within 90 percent of the average Earth-moon separation for that entire year.”
Essentially, there’s no universal agreement, and depending on your definition, there can be three or four supermoons a year.
The scientific term for a supermoon is perigee syzygy of the Earth–Moon–Sun system, which Baskill noted sounds “much more exciting.”
During a supermoon, the moon can look up to 30 percent brighter and 14 percent larger than when it is at its farthest point from Earth (called apogee). This size difference is often compared to a nickel versus a quarter.
However, the change in size is subtle and may not be easily noticeable to casual observers.
Supermoons occur because the moon’s orbit around Earth is elliptical, not perfectly circular. A supermoon happens when a full moon coincides with the moon being near its closest point to Earth. Since the moon is slightly closer, it appears a bit larger in the sky.
The next full moon will occur tonight, Friday, November 15, reaching its peak fullness at 4:28 p.m. ET (1:28 p.m. PT). While it officially becomes full in the afternoon, it will appear virtually full throughout the night.
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