The Moon Is Inching Away From Us

With 2024’s final supermoon set to loom large and bright in the night sky this weekend as November’s Beaver Moon passes close enough to Earth to dazzle any human who happens to look up, what you're about to read may seem surprising, but here it is: The moon is inching away from us.

Don’t worry, though: this is one very, very slow departure. How slow? NASA reports that the moon is moving away from us at a rate of 1.5 inches per year. The space agency has been measuring this since 1969, when the Apollo missions installed reflective panels on the moon’s surface.

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By shooting laser beams up at the moon and measuring how long it takes them to reflect back to Earth, scientists can estimate the distance between us and our satellite. Coincidentally, that 1.5-inch-per-year speed is also the rate at which fingernails grow, according to NASA. (Also coincidentally, fingernail clippings kind of look like tiny moons).

It’s Not The Moon, It’s Us

As NASA explains, “Because Earth rotates on its axis faster than the Moon orbits it, the higher gravity from Earth’s bulge tries to speed up the Moon’s rotation. Meanwhile, the Moon is pulling on Earth and slowing the planet’s rotation. The friction that ensues from this tug-of-war forces the Moon into a wider orbit.” That wider orbit is what creates the slight bit of extra distance between the moon and us each year.

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When To See November’s Full Beaver Supermoon

"Supermoon" is a term that was coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle. The original definition had supermoon describing either a new or a full moon occurring within 10% of perigee (the point in the moon’s 27-day orbit when it comes closest to Earth), but the term has since come solely to denote a full moon at perigee. The astronomical description of this is “perigee-syzygy moon” (syzygy means “a conjunction or opposition,” and is an excellent word for Scrabble players to know). Supermoons can appear up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the faintest full moon of the year.

The final supermoon of 2024 will technically fall on Friday afternoon, Nov. 15, at 4:29 p.m. EST. To our eyes, the moon Thursday through Saturday will look full, making any (and every) of those nights a great time to see it. The next supermoon won’t occur until Oct. 7, 2025, so if you miss out on this one, it will be a long wait for the next. Not only that – the moon will be an inch farther away from us!