Hunter's Moon

October's full moon, the Hunter's Moon, reaches peak illumination on Friday, October 15, 2027, at 9:47 a.m. EDT (13:47 UTC). To the naked eye, the Moon looks full for about a day on either side of the peak. That makes the evenings of October 14 and October 15 the best nights to watch it rise.

Quick facts

Peak time by US time zone

The Moon is exactly full at one instant worldwide. Only the clock reading changes.

Times are calculated with the open-source astronomy-engine library. Other published sources may differ by about a minute because of rounding.

Is it a supermoon?

No. At full phase the Moon is about 389,926 km from Earth (center to center), not close enough to perigee (368,641 km) to qualify under the common definitions.

Best viewing tips

Watch the moonrise. In New York City, the Moon rises at about 5:32 p.m. on October 14 (sunset 6:17 p.m.) and at about 5:58 p.m. on October 15 (sunset 6:15 p.m.). Times for your city will differ, so check the Moonlix moonrise page for your location.

Find a clear eastern horizon. Near the horizon, the full moon often looks orange and unusually large. The color comes from Earth's atmosphere filtering out blue light. The size is the well-known Moon illusion, a trick of perception rather than a real change.

Where it sits in the sky. At its highest, this full moon is at a medium height in the sky for mid-northern US latitudes. Autumn evenings are cool and often clear, and the rising full moon frequently looks orange near the horizon.

Binoculars and cameras. Ordinary 7x50 or 10x50 binoculars show the dark lunar seas and the bright rays around the crater Tycho. For photos, use a tripod and a telephoto lens, shoot during blue hour just after sunset, and expose for the Moon. A good starting point is ISO 100, f/8 and 1/250 s.

Name origin and folklore

This is the Hunter's Moon: the full moon after the Harvest Moon, which in 2027 falls on September 15. Traditionally, its light helped hunters track game over bare, harvested fields while they prepared food for winter. The name is defined by its place after the Harvest Moon, not by the month.

Other names recorded for this month's full moon include Travel Moon, Dying Grass Moon, Falling Leaves Moon. Most full moon names popular in the US today were spread by the Old Farmer's Almanac and the Farmers' Almanac. Native nations had their own names, which varied by region and language, so no single list is "official."

What else is in the sky

The main meteor shower this month is the Orionids (around October 21). Check the Moon's phase on the peak night, because bright moonlight hides fainter meteors. Use the October 2027 moon calendar to see every phase, and the daily moon phase pages for illumination on any date.