On November 5th the sky will offer us a new breathtaking show: the largest Supermoon of 2025, the second of three expected this year. Our satellite will be the protagonist of a show among the stars, which we will also be able to witness with the naked eye, clouds permitting.
The largest supermoon of the year: how and when to see it
At 2.20pm on November 5th the moon will be full, about 9 hours before its passage to perigee (i.e. at the minimum distance from the Earth, 356,832 km from us, against an average distance of just over 384,000 km): it will therefore be a little closer, brighter and a little larger than usual. This “overlap” between the full moon and the passage to perigee is now popularly referred to as a supermoon. The term, in itself, has no scientific value: in astronomy we prefer to talk about the Full Moon at Perigee, but without a doubt the nickname Supermoon has a charm of its own.
As explained by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, astrophysicist, founder and scientific director of the Virtual Telescope Project, it will be the largest of the year: “The next Supermoon will appear just over 7% larger and a little brighter than an average full moon, a small difference that could easily escape even the most expert sky observers. In fact, these are far from sensational variations, which however add charm to the event, a precious opportunity to admire our natural satellite in the context of the sky night, an increasingly neglected, inaccessible and forgotten landscape. What the Supermoon offers is, in fact, a good pretext to invite people to recover awareness of the firmament among the general public, even in the city, which is notoriously unfavorable to seeing the stars due to light pollution”.
Why it’s called the “Beaver Supermoon”
The so-called “Beaver Supermoon” on November 5th will be hosted by the stars of Aries, the famous constellation of the zodiac. That name, informal, derived from Anglo-Saxon tradition and associated with the full moon in November, refers to the fact that during the month the beavers prepare to spend the winter, building dams and gathering food. The Superuna show will also be broadcast live on the Virtual Telescope Project website, with commentary by Gianluca Masi. The event is totally free and the appointment is for Wednesday 5 November 2025 at 8pm.