The Supermoon Over Illinois Tonight Is The Brightest Of The Year

With the current run of great weather we've been enjoying in Northern Illinois, tonight will be a perfect night to get out and do some moon-gazing, assuming the clear skies continue to be clear enough for you to get a great look at the final and brightest supermoon of 2025.

October’s Hunter’s Moon isn’t just the brightest of 2025, it also closes out this year’s run of supermoons. The next two full moons, in November and December, drift much farther from Earth and will look slightly smaller and dimmer. You may see some places calling the upcoming full moons in November and December supermoons, but they're not.

A “supermoon” happens when a full moon occurs near perigee, which is the point when the Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit. Most sources (NASA, TimeandDate, EarthSky) define a supermoon as a full moon that occurs within 90% of perigee.

• November 5: The full moon occurs when the Moon is over 382,000 km away, which is well beyond the supermoon threshold.
• December 5: Distance is even farther (over 405,000 km), which is close to apogee, making it actually a micromoon, which is the opposite of a supermoon, the smallest and dimmest full moon of the year.

Why Is This Supermoon Also Called A "Hunter's Moon?"

According to the OId Farmer's Almanac, the October full moon became known as the “Hunter's Moon” because it signaled the start of hunting season and served as a cue for hunters to prepare for the colder months ahead.

ABCNews.com:

According to the Almanac, after the fields were cleared during the harvest moon -- the full moon that precedes the Hunter's Moon -- animals would venture out to scavenge the remaining crops, making it easier for hunters to spot game such as deer and the foxes that stalked them.

Here's What You Need To Know For The Best Viewing Opportunity Tonight

Moonrise for our area in Northern Illinois is listed as being at 6:03pm, and sunset should occur at 6:29pm, so the moon will start rising against a still-lit sky, which should look very cool.

The moon remains above the horizon for much of the night until sunrise, so even if you miss the moon rising, you'll still get good viewing opportunity. The moon reaches its peak tonight at 10:48pm.

Early risers will still get a good look at the supermoon until tomorrow morning when the moon sets at around 6:10am.