‘Spectacular’ supermoon, meteor showers to light up California sky. When to watch
Two meteor showers and a luminous supermoon will light up the California night sky in October.
The harvest moon will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
“Rising low on the horizon, it will appear bigger, brighter and more golden than any other moon this year, casting long, glowing light across autumn fields, landscapes and evening skies,” the almanac said.
Here are some of the celestial sights to look out for this month:
When to watch October supermoon in California
The 10th full moon of 2025 will reach peak illumination at 8:47 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 6, according to online calendar Time and Date.
The supermoon will be about 30% brighter and 14% larger than the average full moon, according to NASA.
It will look bigger than usual because the full moon is happening at perigee — the point when the moon is at its closest to earth all month, NASA said.
“This is an exceptionally close full moon! Which explains its spectacular appearance,” Chelsea Gohd from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory wrote in a blog post.
October’s harvest supermoon is the first of three supermoons scheduled to take place in 2025, the Old Farmer’s Almanac said.
How did the harvest moon get its name?
The October full moon is called the harvest moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The moon’s name refers to the time of year when farmers would harvest fall crops ahead of the first frost of the season.
Since it falls close to the autumn equinox, the moon rises around the same time several nights in a row, providing farmers with more illumination in the evenings to pick produce.
The October moon has also been called the the hunter’s moon, the drying rice moon, the falling leaves moon and the freezing moon, the almanac said.
See the Draconid meteor shower
The first meteor shower of October — the Draconids — peaks on Wednesday, Oct. 8, according to NASA.
The shooting stars are from debris trailing the comet 21P Giacobini-Zinner as they burn through Earth’s atmosphere, the space agency said.
“These meteors originate from nearby the head of the constellation Draco the dragon in the northern sky,” Gohd said.
The Draconid meteor shower takes place from Monday, Oct. 6, through Friday, Oct. 10.
Some of the meteors may be difficult to see due to the bright moon overhead.
If you happen to find a dark patch of dark sky, however, you could see up to 10 meteors an hour, NASA said.
How to watch Orionid meteor shower
The second meteor shower of the month — the Orionids — will peak overnight from Tuesday, Oct. 21, to Wednesday, Oct. 22.
During this “spectacular show,” up to 20 meteors an hour are expected to shoot across the night sky, NASA said.
The Orionids are visible because the Earth is moving through debris trailing from Halley’s Comet, the space agency said.
The dazzling Orionids meteor shower began Sept. 26 and continues through Saturday, Nov. 22.
The best night to see shooting stars is Tuesday, Oct. 21, from before midnight to 2 a.m., NASA said.
The shower’s peak will line up with California’s new moon, ensuring “optimal stargazing conditions,” to watch the “extremely bright and fast-moving shooting stars,” National Geographic said.
