Australia gets front row seat to 2025’s biggest supermoon
Tonight, 2025’s biggest and brightest supermoon will be visible from Australia, part of a rare trio of consecutive lunar spectacles.
A rare ‘beaver’ full moon would light up Australia’s skies tonight, with the supermoon set to be especially dramatic and part of a rare trio of astronomical events.
Astronomy expert and Astrophysicist at Macquarie University Devika Kamath said supermoons could appear 14 per cent to 30 per cent brighter.
“The November supermoon will be the closest of the year, making it the biggest and brightest moon of 2025,” Kamath said.
Supermoons occur three to four times a year, but 2025 has eight in total. Tonight’s occurrence is special because it is part of a rare trio of consecutive Supermoons – on October 7, November 5 and December 5. Another Supermoon will occur in January 2026, extending the sequence to four.
This run of Supermoons was perfectly timed for Australia, as the moon would rise early in the evening, making it easy to see with the naked eye, Kamath said.
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“In Australia, the best viewing time is just after moonrise, around 6:00pm to 6:30 pm local time, depending on your location. The best place to see it is anywhere away from buildings or trees, with a clear view of the eastern horizon—open fields, beaches, or hilltops are ideal,” Kamath said.
Kamath advised looking east just after sunset to get the best view of the supermoon as it rises larger and brighter than usual.
“For phone users, avoid over-zooming, tap to focus on the moon, and steady the device against a wall or tripod substitute for a clearer shot,” Kamath says.
A supermoon occurs when the full moon reaches perigee, when the moon is closest to the Earth at a distance of about 356,000 km. Likewise, apogee describes the furthest point of the moon’s orbit as roughly 405,000 km away.
The gravitational pull of supermoons was slightly stronger, making tides higher and lower than usual, but only by a couple of centimetres.
