Moon

October's Hunter's Moon peaks early October 26, days before Halloween

October's full moon, the Hunter's Moon, reaches peak illumination at 12:12 a.m. ET on Monday, October 26, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac as reported by Yahoo, though the Economic Times puts the peak at approximately 4:11 AM UTC, or 9:41 AM IST, the same moment converted to Indian time.

The best viewing comes Sunday evening, October 25, when the nearly full moon ascends above the eastern horizon at dusk and can look golden or orange close to the ground, Yahoo reports, with the moon still appearing full on the nights around the peak, the Independent notes.

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Why the moon looks orange at moonrise#

The hunter's moon takes its name from the autumn hunting season, when falling leaves and thinned brush combined with extra moonlight to help hunters track game before winter, Yahoo reports.

Moonlight near the horizon passes through more of Earth's atmosphere, which scatters shorter blue wavelengths and lets warmer orange and red tones stand out, similar to a sunrise or sunset, Yahoo explains, though the moon itself does not actually change color.

The moon will remain bright from about October 25 through October 27 but will be waning by Halloween night as it moves toward its next phase, Yahoo reports, even though its peak falls just days before the holiday.

The moon sits near Saturn and Neptune this week#

On the night of the peak, the moon passes 5 degrees north of Neptune at 11 P.M. EDT, with Saturn visible to the naked eye nearby in the southwest while Neptune requires binoculars or a telescope, according to Astronomy Magazine.

The same night, Mercury reaches a stationary point in Libra at 8 A.M. EDT and is only briefly visible after sunset low in the west, appearing as a magnitude 0.5 point of light, Astronomy Magazine reports.

Astrologers link the Taurus moon to money and security#

This year's full moon falls in Taurus, which astrologer Judy Tsafir connects on Instagram to themes of scarcity, creative expression and abundance, according to the Hindustan Times, with the peak timed at 12:12 a.m. EDT on October 26, or 9:12 p.m. on October 25 on the US West Coast.

Tsafir ties Taurus to security, possessions and personal values and suggests the moon can be used to notice where attention falls on lack rather than what one already has, the Hindustan Times reports, adding that Venus sits at 29 degrees Libra and Mars at 15 degrees Leo in her reading.

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