November Full Beaver Moon Kicks Off Three Consecutive Supermoons

The November full moon reaches maximum illumination on Nov. 24, 2026, marking the first of three consecutive supermoons to grace the night sky. Because the lunar disk sits opposite the sun at that exact moment, viewers across the United States will find the moon below the horizon during the peak hour.

Instead, American stargazers get their best look at the near-full Beaver Moon as it arcs toward the western horizon in the predawn hours. This lunar event coincides with cultural celebrations worldwide, including Dev Diwali and Guru Nanak Gurpurab. NASA notes that supermoons occur when the natural satellite comes within ninety percent of perigee, its closest point to Earth in an elliptical orbit.

This proximity can make the moon appear fourteen percent larger and thirty percent brighter than the smallest full moon of the year. Observers may notice a striking yellow-orange hue in the hour before moonset because Earth dense atmosphere scatters shorter blue wavelengths through Rayleigh scattering. The moon illusion further tricks the human eye into perceiving the disk as massive when it hovers close to terrestrial foreground objects.

Beyond the lunar spectacle, the predawn sky offers a rich planetary lineup for amateur astronomers.

The near-full moon passes close to the bright stars of the Pleiades open star cluster, while Mars, Regulus, and Jupiter form a bright triangle high in the southern sky.

Venus shines low in the east as a morning star, and Saturn tracks steadily across the constellation Pisces.

Observers wanting to capture the event can use a tripod and a remote shutter to avoid camera shake, utilizing lenses ranging from wide focal lengths for landscapes to four hundred millimeters for detailed lunar craters.