This November, Spain will witness its second supermoon of 2025. According to EarthSky, the year will have a total of three consecutive supermoons: the first on October 7, the second on November 5, known as the beaver moon, occurring at 14:19 under the sign of Taurus, and the last one on December 5, which will be the final supermoon of the year and of autumn, referred to as the cold moon, starting at 00:14 under the sign of Gemini.
The month begins with a new moon, taking place on November 1 at 13:47 under the sign of Scorpio. Typically, there is one new moon each month because the Moon takes approximately 29.5 days to complete its cycle through the four main phases: full moon, new moon, first quarter, and last quarter. A new moon occurs when the Moon is positioned between the Earth and the Sun, rendering its illuminated side invisible from our planet. At this time, the Sun, Moon, and Earth are nearly aligned, with the Moon in the middle, causing the side facing Earth to receive no direct sunlight and making it difficult to observe.
The new moon, also known as novilunio or interlunio, occurs roughly every 29.5 days, coinciding with a complete lunar cycle referred to as a synodic month. Full moons also occur with this frequency, resulting in a total of 12 full moons each year, one per month. However, since a year consists of 365 or 366 days, there are approximately 12.4 complete lunar cycles annually. Consequently, every two and a half to three years, there will be 13 full moons in a single year.
A full moon happens when the Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon, allowing the Moon to reflect sunlight fully, achieving its maximum brightness. Before reaching this phase, the Moon goes through the first quarter, during which the right half is illuminated in the Northern Hemisphere, resembling the letter “D.” After the full moon, it transitions to the last quarter, where the left side is illuminated, giving it a “C” shape. This is why it is often said that the Moon is deceptive: it appears as a “D” when it is waxing and as a “C” when waning, reflecting the verbs “decrease” and “increase,” respectively.
According to the Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN), these are all the lunar phases and their respective times, based on peninsular time, for this October, leading into November with the new moon. In total, there will be 12 full moons in 2024, with two of the remaining three also classified as supermoons, similar to September”s event. The following are the dates for the upcoming full moons:
