Guide to watching the supermoon of November 1404; The biggest full moon of the year

The phenomenon of the supermoon occurs in the middle of November 1404, a little more exciting than usual, and marks the biggest full moon of the year. In today’s world full of light pollution, where seeing celestial objects in cities is like a dream, there are still some objects whose viewing brings reconciliation between the inhabitants of the earth and the night sky, and the moon is definitely the brightest of them.

The phenomenon of the supermoon of Aban 1404, which occurs on November 14 at 16:49 Tehran time (November 5 at 13:19 UTC), is considered one of the most beautiful and brightest celestial events of the year. This supermoon is not only a full moon in this lunar period, but it is also at its closest distance from the earth. Because of this, it appears bigger and brighter than ever to terrestrial observers.

What is a supermoon and why does it occur?

The moon’s orbit around the earth is not a complete circle, but an ellipse. Therefore, the moon is sometimes at the closest distance to the earth, which is called “Perigee” and sometimes it will be at the farthest distance, which is called “Apogee”. When the phenomenon of the full moon coincides almost with the perigee, it appears a little bigger and brighter in the sky than usual, and this is what we call a “supermoon”.

This time, the closest distance of the moon from the Earth, which will occur at 02:00 AM on Thursday, November 15 (November 5, 22:30 UTC), will be only about 356,833 km. This is the closest the moon will be in the entire year of 2025 (and of course 1404), which is why it has been dubbed the “biggest full moon of the year.”

Bigger and brighter, or exaggeration?

It seems that most of the media tends to express this event as a special or unusual event. Hearing that a certain moon is prefixed with “cloud,” people rush out to see it, thinking they’re about to witness something akin to a rare cosmic alignment. Such feelings, perhaps in a new form, are reminiscent of the story “The King’s New Clothes” written by Hans Christian Andersen in 1837!

While the supermoon of November 1404 will indeed be the “biggest full moon of the year,” the change in the moon’s distance from the Earth is simply not detectable to most observers looking directly at it. The Moon reaches its shortest distance (orbital perigee) once and sometimes twice a month, but this time, the closest full moon will be in 2025 (and also 1404).

Supermoon in London
Credit: WIktor Szymanowicz/NurPhoto/Getty

Next year, on May 31, 2026 (June 10, 1405), the full moon will reach the apogee, the farthest distance from the earth in its orbit, and it will appear about 14% smaller; What some call “Micro-Moon”.

In terms of brightness, although it is often said that the moon will be 30% brighter than normal, this amount is only considered as a 0.2 to 0.3 magnitude difference in brightness, which is difficult for the human eye to perceive.

Of course, if someone were told that the Moon is closer to the Earth than normal, and thus has a slightly larger apparent size, they would probably reply, “Oh, yes! It really looks bigger!” This is especially true if one sees the moon near the horizon; That’s where the mysterious “moon-sighting error” always comes into play, and the fact that the moon will be much closer than usual on Wednesday only serves to amplify the strange effect.

The exact time of the supermoon of November 1404

Considering that the unaided eye will not notice the exact changes, the supermoon of Aban 1404 will be visible throughout the night of Wednesday, November 5, 2025 (14 Aban 1404). But the best time to watch it is during sunrise and sunset, because the moon is near the horizon and thus not only brighter, but also bigger due to the phenomenon of “Moon Illusion”.

Abarmah Aban 1395 in Persepolis
Credit: Reza Ghaderi, IRNA

In Iran, the full moon rises from the eastern horizon at 16:43 Tehran time and will be in the sky until the next day at 07:27. The exact time of the full moon is 16:49, but in the hours after that, you can see the supermoon, whose shine creates very clear shadows on the ground.

The difference between a supermoon and a normal full moon

The supermoon of November (Aban), which will be seen in yellow and gold, is known as the “Beaver Moon” among Native Americans. In other cultures, this month is also called “Frost Moon” or “Digging Moon” because it was a sign of the beginning of autumn cold and digging the ground to store crops.

From a scientific point of view, the apparent size of the supermoon of November 1404 is about 14% larger and its brightness is 30% more than the normal full moon. But this difference is very slight and sometimes imperceptible to the naked eye. However, astrophotographers and sky enthusiasts usually notice this increase in brightness; Especially when framing the moon low on the horizon next to buildings, mountains, or people and animals.

In addition, the supermoon has a slight effect on the tides of the seas. On such nights, the tides occur more strongly than usual, although these changes are still not noticeable to ordinary people, but in areas of the planet, they can register clear measurement differences. Any coastal storm at sea during high tide will cause coastal flooding problems, and during low tide, the water level will drop significantly if strong winds push the water towards the shore.

Supermoon over New York
Credit: Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

A guide to watching the cloudy month of November 1404

You don’t need a professional tool to see the supermoon and you only need to look at the sky at night on November 14 to find the moon. For a better experience, you can follow a few simple tips.

• Choose the eastern or western horizon: if you look at the moon at night on November 14th, try to choose the time of its sunrise, and if you watch it at dawn on November 15th, choose the dark times but closer to the sunset of the moon to see a more beautiful effect.
• Get away from light pollution: Although this phenomenon can be seen in big cities with light pollution, if you can, move away from cities, because in darker areas, the details of the moon’s surface can be seen better.
• Use a tripod: If you plan to take photos, using a tripod and a wide lens can make for amazing images, especially with terrestrial phenomena.
• Check the moonrise time: In Iranian cities, the moonrise time is around 17:30 to 18:00 local time.
• Observe in clear weather: Cloudy or foggy weather can reduce your visibility, so be aware of local weather conditions before planning a supermoon viewing.

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The supermoon next to the Eiffel Tower
Credit: Reuters/Christian Hartmann

The biggest supermoon of the year, a chance to see the sky anew

The phenomenon of the supermoon of November 1404 may not be so different in understanding to the naked eye, but it is still a sign of the beauty of astronomy. Even if it is not much different from other moons, this awareness of the moon’s closer distance to the earth makes us look at the night sky differently.

So if you are interested in the night sky, you can make this night a special experience. Get your phone or camera ready, go to a darker place and look at the moon in silence; Somewhere up there, the moon shines at its closest distance to Earth, drawing many shared gazes at the same time.

Cover photo: Supermoon on August 19, 2024, at Longquan Mountain in Chengdu, China. The full moon of Aban 1404 is even closer to the earth and bigger and brighter in the autumn sky.
Credit: Yang Qitian, VCG/Getty Images

Sources: Space, EarthSky, ABC News, Time and Date, National Geographic, BBC