Illinois Look Up: The Last Super Moon Of 2023 Is This Week

2023's final Super Moon will be ready for viewing in a little over 24 hours from now, and it looks like (at this moment, anyway) that the weather will cooperate by giving us a clear night so we can optimize our viewing.

Super Moons are a bit easier to check out than meteor showers are because you don't have to go out into the backyard at 3am to catch a Super Moon if you really don't want to. Just start looking for it shortly after sunset. Spend some time, go to bed. It's just that easy. We hope.

This Super Moon Is A Harvest Moon, Which Got Its Name Because Farmers Would Use Its Light To Bring In Their Crops Back In The Pre-Electricity Days

Farmers have electric lights to illuminate their harvests now, so all we really need a big bright moon for is to comment to our coworkers that we could have driven to work without headlights (you really shouldn't, though. Police take a dim view of drivers pulling that stunt).

Space.com:

It also turns out that this full moon is the one that comes closest to the September equinox. While most traditionally associate the Harvest Moon with the month of September, there are some years where it falls in the month of October. Between 1970 and 2050, for instance, there are 18 years when the Harvest Moon comes in October. The last time was in 2020 and next time will be in 2025.

NASA Says This Upcoming Supermoon Will Be Around 224,854 Miles From Earth And Appear About 5% Bigger And 13% Brighter Than The Average Full Moon This Year

Like I said earlier, catching a Super Moon won't take much effort on your part. Just go outside this Thursday evening (9/28) at around 5:30pm. Moonrise happens at 5:35pm, and you've got the rest of the evening and night to enjoy the extra light from an extra big moon.