• The third supermoon of the year will rise this week.
• Super moons occur when the full moon is closest to Earth, making it appear larger and brighter than normal.
• October’s full moon is the biggest supermoon of the year.

The biggest and brightest supermoon of the year rises this week.

NASA says the moon will appear full Tuesday evening through Friday morning. So you have plenty of time to absorb it.

However, there is a small window of time between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning when the moon will be closest to Earth and look brightest.

When and where can you see October’s supermoon?

Unlike constellations and meteor showers, the supermoon is easily visible from almost anywhere on Earth.

“It’s something that people can see, even if they live in a city. It’s very easy to observe. You don’t need any special equipment,” said Jennifer L. Hoffman, director of the Chamberlin Observatorytold Business Insider.

The term supermoon refers to when a full or new moon occurs around the same time as the moon’s closest approach to Earth, called perigee.

That’s what will happen starting Wednesday evening, resulting in a supermoon that will appear about 14% brighter than average, Space.com reported.

The moon reaches approximately perigee 8:50 PM ET on Wednesday. It will be 220,000 miles away – about 17,000 miles closer than average. It will then grow overnight and officially reach the full moon on Thursday at 7:26 a.m. ET.

As the perigee and the full moon fall, the best time to get the full effect is Wednesday or Thursday at sunrise, Wes Ryle, an astronomer at the Cincinnati Observatory, told BI.

Additionally, when the moon is close to the horizon, it creates an optical illusion where the moon appears larger, as there are usually trees or buildings for a sense of scale, unlike when the moon is high in the sky.

You can check what time the moon rises over the eastern horizon at your location with Time and Date’s moonrise and moonset calculator.

Although you don’t need any special equipment to see the supermoon, Ryle suggests viewing it with a telescope if you can.

“Just being able to see the dramatic increase in detail that comes with the telescope view is always fun to experience with someone,” he said.

This year’s four consecutive supermoons

This week’s moon is the third of four consecutive supermoons this year. The next one will be in November.

What makes this week’s moon unique is that the perigee and full moon coincide the most compared to the other supermoons, making it the largest and brightest supermoon of the entire year.

“This is technically the largest supermoon of the four, and only slightly different from September’s,” Ryle said.

This week’s full moon is also called the Hunter’s Moon, taking its name from the season when animals stock up for the coming cold months and hunters store meat for the winter, according to the Farmers’ Almanac.

Supermoons are relatively common, so if you miss this one, you won’t have to wait long for the next one. “They pair up for a while and you’ll tend to get a few supermoons in a row,” Ryle said.

However, sometimes a supermoon coincides with a new moon, so it won’t have the same effect of looking brighter than normal. This year, the four supermoons in a row are all full moons.

In 2025, there will be another cluster of supermoons in October, November and December.