Beaver Moon in New Hampshire or a Blue Moon?

We called it a Full Moon Friday, but seriously did you see that humungous full moon over the weekend?

I walked out into a dimly lit parking lot, but the sky was so bright it forced me to look up.  It was then I saw the biggest brightest moon I have ever seen.

Astronomers called it a 'supermoon', but it's more than that.  Supermoons are 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a normal full moon.

According to space.com, a supermoon occurs when the moon is actually closer to the earth.  The weekend sky was spectacular as the supermoon lit up the sky, but it's very difficult to truly capture a supermoon with your phone.

Usually the best photos are by professional photographers, or amateur photographers with great cameras.

This weekend was also a supermoon beaver moon.  A beaver moon is the last full moon of the year, in November.  It's called a beaver moon, according to cbsnews.com because "this is the time of year when beavers start sheltering in their lodges after having prepared food stores for the winter."   This makes sense.

So what's a blue moon?

Usually there are 12 full moons per year, and three to four supermoons, but every 2 and a half years, there's an extra full moon within a one month period, making it a 13th full moon that year.  That's called a blue moon, thus the term, "once in a blue moon", meaning it's rare. It has nothing to do with the color, according to timeanddate.com and spaceplace.nasa.gov.

If you miss a supermoon this year, don't worry.  We will have three next fall on Oct. 7,  followed by Nov. 5 and Dec. 4, 2025.