How to catch the hunter’s moon this weekend — and maybe Saturn, too

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October’s full moon will grace the sky this weekend — and those with a keen eye may also catch a glimpse of Saturn.

Just a month after the fall equinox , the full moon will rise particularly early, becoming visible at sunset and reaching peak illumination at 12:12 a.m. ET on Monday, October 26, according to EarthSky . As night falls on Sunday, Saturn also will appear gold and sit just a few degrees south of the moon.

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The orb may look more orange as it hangs lower on the horizon. This position causes the moonlight to pass through a denser layer of air, shortening blue and violet wavelengths and making the orange and red ones stand out — similar to a sunset.

Named the hunter’s moon, Native Americans traditionally took advantage of the bright moonlight to hunt for active wildlife and prepare food for the winter. October’s full moon follows September’s harvest moon , which marked when farmers would typically harvest their crops.

“These names were assigned to the moon because the moon has a meaning,” said Noah Petro, chief of NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Lab at Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “I’d encourage folks, while they’re looking at the moon, to ask, ‘What does this time of year mean to me?’ Everyone should have a personal connection.”

Other monikers for the hunter’s moon are similarly rooted in seasonal traditions. Indigenous tribes adopted names including the drying rice moon, the falling leaves moon and the migrating moon. Some groups also referred to it as the blood moon, a nod to its orange-red hue.

The full moon will appear its usual silvery color over the next several months, but viewers who look closely will notice the moon’s face shifting as it rotates, said Petro, who is also a project scientist for the Artemis III mission . The moon owes its varying gradation to differences in surface composition and age — something Petro’s team plans to explore in the Artemis mission slated for June 2027.

“When you see color differences on the moon, that’s telling you that something has already happened there — either the rocks are made of something different, or it’s a younger or older surface,” Petro said. “It tells you about the geological history.”

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For optimal sky-gazing, Petro suggested finding a place free of obstruction from trees or buildings, such as a large field. He added that cold winter nights can make it easier to see the moon, because heat generates turbulence in the atmosphere and makes the sky hazy.

“The beauty of the moon is that you don’t need to have the most impressive telescope,” Petro said. “You need two things: clear eyes and clear skies. And with that, you can fall in love with the moon.”

If the sky isn’t clear Sunday night, the moon will appear full on Saturday and Monday as well.

The hunter’s moon comes at the end of a several-day period of the orb approaching and passing Saturn. The ringed planet may be difficult to spot because of the moon’s luminescence.

Sky-gazing opportunities aren’t over after this weekend’s dual visual treat. From Monday to Wednesday, the moon will approach, eclipse and pass the Pleiades star cluster, also known as the Seven Sisters. Appearing to the unaided eye as a fuzzy collection of six to seven stars, the Pleiades is among the most well-known celestial clusters across the world.

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The hunter’s moon marks 11 out of 13 full moons in 2026. The final two are both supermoons, meaning the satellite will appear brighter and larger because it is closest to Earth in its orbit.

November 24: beaver moon

December 23: cold moon

Gary Hershorn/Corbis News/Getty Images

本周末，十月的满月将照亮夜空——眼力好的人或许还能瞥见土星。

据EarthSky报道，秋分过后仅一个月，满月将升起得格外早，日落时分即可看到，并于10月26日星期一美国东部时间凌晨12:12达到满月。周日夜幕降临时，土星也将呈现金色，位于月亮以南几度处。

火星的两颗小卫星本不应该存在。一项新的探测任务已经启动，旨在揭开它们的秘密。

当月圆悬挂在地平线较低处时，它看起来会更偏橙色。这是因为月光穿过更稠密的空气层，缩短了蓝色和紫色光的波长，使橙色和红色光更加突出——类似于日落时的景象。

十月的满月被称为“猎人之月”，美洲原住民传统上会利用明亮的月光狩猎活跃的野生动物，并为过冬准备食物。十月的满月紧随九月的“收获之月”之后，后者通常标志着农民收割庄稼的时节。

“之所以给月亮取这些名字，是因为月亮本身就蕴含着意义，”美国宇航局戈达德太空飞行中心行星地质、地球物理和地球化学实验室主任诺亚·彼得罗说道。“我鼓励大家在观赏月亮的时候，问问自己：‘一年中的这个时候对我来说意味着什么？’每个人都应该与月亮建立起某种个人联系。”

猎人月的其他别称也同样源于季节性传统。原住民部落赋予它诸如稻谷干涸之月、落叶之月和迁徙之月等名称。一些部落也称其为血月，以形容它橙红色的色调。

在接下来的几个月里，满月将呈现通常的银色，但仔细观察的人会发现，随着月球自转，月面的颜色会发生变化。阿尔忒弥斯3号任务的项目科学家彼得罗说道。月球颜色的渐变是由于其表面成分和年龄的差异造成的——彼得罗的团队计划在2027年6月启动的阿尔忒弥斯任务中对此进行探索。

“当你看到月球上的颜色差异时，这说明那里已经发生过一些事情——要么是岩石的成分不同，要么是地表更年轻或更古老，”佩特罗说。“这可以告诉你一些地质历史。”

图片由马克·A·加里克/华威大学提供

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为了获得最佳的观星效果，佩特罗建议寻找一个没有树木或建筑物遮挡的地方，例如一片开阔的田野。他还补充说，寒冷的冬夜更容易看到月亮，因为热量会在大气中产生湍流，使天空变得朦胧。

“月亮的美妙之处在于，你不需要最强大的望远镜，”佩特罗说。“你只需要两样东西：一双清澈的眼睛和晴朗的夜空。有了这两样，你就能爱上月亮。”

如果周日晚上天空不晴朗，那么周六和周一月亮看起来也会是满月。

猎月出现在太阳接近并掠过土星数日之后。由于猎月的光芒，这颗带环行星可能难以观测。

本周末的双重天文奇观过后，观星的机会并未结束。从周一到周三，月亮将接近、遮蔽并掠过昴星团（又称七姐妹星团）。昴星团肉眼看来是由六七颗恒星组成的模糊星团，是世界上最著名的星团之一。

韩国科学技术院（KAIST）无人探索实验室和航空航天机器人与机构实验室

这些受折纸艺术启发而设计的探测车轮子或许能帮助探索月球上的熔岩管。

2026 年的 13 个满月中，有 11 个是猎人月。最后两个满月都是超级月亮，这意味着由于这颗卫星在其轨道上距离地球最近，因此看起来会更亮更大。

11月24日：海狸月

12月23日：寒月