Last night, the full Harvest Supermoon shined big and bright, and photographers around the world pointed their cameras skyward to capture the event.
That’s because the moon revolves around the Earth in an elliptical orbit, with its closest point (perigee) and farthest point (apogee) occurring at different times each month. When a full moon rises near perigee, it becomes a supermoon.
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The moon became full just before midnight on Monday (October 6th) at approximately 11:47 pm ET. The full moon will also appear bright and full on the nights just before and after its peak, so look out tonight for another stunning view of Earth’s natural satellite.
Last night was the first of three supermoons scheduled for 2025. To celebrate, Live Science has compiled some of the best photos of the Harvest Supermoon taken from around the world last night.
In Italy, photographer Lorenzo di Cola captured a stunning shot of the moon rising over the Rocca Carassio castle and Santa Maria della Pieta church in Carassio.
It was a supermoon because the moon was closer to Earth than usual. During this lunar phase, we are about 10% closer to Earth’s natural satellites than normal, with the Moon hovering about 224,599 miles (361,457 kilometers) away, instead of the average distance of 238,855 miles (384,400 km).
Photographer Gonga Laison captured the moon shining above the Potala Palace in the Tibet Autonomous Region in southwestern China.
The moon was full on Monday, but it will reach its closest distance to Earth by midnight on Wednesday (October 8), and shooting stars from the annual Carinae shower may be seen on the same night.
Photographer Aditya Irawan captured this image of a plane flying in front of the rising moon over Indonesia’s West Java province.
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Mid-Autumn Harvest Moon is usually held in September, but this year it was held in October due to natural changes in the lunar calendar. “Harvest Moon” is usually the name given to the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox, which this year fell on September 22nd.
In Spain, photographer Marcos del Maso took a photo of the moon rising over some houses in Madrid. Supermoon or not, a full moon always appears larger when it rises close to objects in the foreground, such as buildings or trees. This is a common optical trick known as the moon illusion.
In Indonesia, photographer Yasuyoshi Chiba rose above Jakarta’s West Irian Liberation Monument to take a striking photo of the moon illuminating the night sky.
Photographer Chi Shiyong captured a satisfying photo of the moon lining the top of a bridge in Daqing, northeast China.
This shot taken by photographer Rashid Neqati Aslim shows the moon behind a street lamp in Manchester, England.
The next full moon will rise on November 5th (13:21 UTC / 8:21 am EST) and will be the second of this year’s three supermoons. November’s full moon is also called the “beaver moon” because it’s the time when beavers build dams.
