The last supermoon of the year will rise tonight.
The lunar occasion, called the “Flower Moon,” will reach its peak illumination at 6:45 a.m. ET on Thursday, May 7—but the moon will be visible if you venture outside tonight.
For those who miss it, the moon will continue to appear full through the morning of Friday, May 8, offering plenty of chances to glimpse the spectacle.
Supermoons occur when a full moon coincides with the moon arriving at its closest approach to Earth in orbit, magnifying its usual size and brightness within the sky by as much as 30%.
Tonight’s Flower Moon completes a run of supermoons over the past few months, starting with February’s Snow Moon, followed by March’s Worm Moon and April’s Pink Moon. The Flower Moon’s name honors the Native American tradition of using celestial events to trace the seasons, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, as the month of May is a time when frost subsides and plants bloom in the northern hemisphere.
If you can’t step outside, or if clouds obscure your view, you can tune in to the Virtual Telescope Project’s live stream of the supermoon in Rome.
And as you do, don’t forget: NASA recommends “the wearing of suitably celebratory celestial attire.” Enjoy!
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