How to see Saturday's Hunter's Moon partial lunar eclipse
If you have clear skies Saturday night, look up at moonrise to check out the Full Hunter's Moon, and you might catch a lunar eclipse in progress.
October's Full Moon rises on the night of the 28th. Named the Hunter's Moon, this particular Full Moon may appear a bit strange to observers at the start of the night — not as bright as it should be, and from some regions of Atlantic Canada and the Far North, it will look as though it is partly dipped in shadow.
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Hunter's Moon?
Each Full Moon of the year has a popular name. Most originate from the lunar calendars used by First Nations peoples. Some, like the Harvest Moon and Hunter's Moon, instead reference Colonial American or European folklore.
This graphic collects all the relevant data about each of the 13 Full Moons of 2023, including their popular names, whether they are a 'super' or 'micro' Moon, a 'perigee' or 'apogee' Moon, and whether they are remarkable in some other way (Harvest Moon, lunar eclipse, etc.). Credit: Scott Sutherland/NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio/Fred Espenak
The Harvest Moon is the Full Moon that occurs closest to the autumnal equinox (either before or after). The next Full Moon after that is called the Hunter's Moon.
This year, with the Harvest Moon falling on September 28-29, the Full Moon of October 28-29 is 2023's Hunter's Moon.
READ MORE: What is the mysterious Moon Illusion?
Partial or penumbral lunar eclipse
On the night of October 28, the Full Moon will almost perfectly align with the Sun and Earth, resulting in the Moon passing through part of Earth's shadow.
The timing of this lunar eclipse is best for those viewing from Europe, Africa, and Asia.
However, it is also visible for observers in Canada, just as the Moon rises.
Those watching from Cape Breton Island, Newfoundland, and Nunavut with a clear view of the rising Moon will see the lunar south pole immersed in shadow. This is due to the Moon dipping into the dark umbra of Earth's shadow to produce a partial lunar eclipse.
For those farther west, to Lake Superior in the south, Arviat along Hudson's Bay, and into western Nunavut and eastern Northwest Territories, the partial eclipse will have ended by moonrise. However, keen-eyed observers may still detect that the rising Full Moon isn't as bright as it could be, as the Moon will still be in the 'penumbral' portion of the eclipse at that time.
Unfortunately, the event will have ended by the time the Moon rises in Thunder Bay and points west of there. The Moon will have passed entirely out of Earth's shadow until the next lunar eclipse, which occurs on March 25, 2024.
(Thumbnail image courtesy Kosala Rajapaksha, who took this picture of the October 9, 2022 Full Hunters Moon from Saskatoon, and uploaded it into The Weather Network's UGC Gallery)
