A Space Coast Wire affiliate photographed the full moon rising deep amber over Brevard around Nov. 5, 2025, the date of the year's closest full moon. The long-lens frames show the moon's dark seas and bright craters in sharp detail.

What made it a supermoon

The U.S. Naval Observatory lists the full moon on Nov. 5, 2025. Lunar perigee tables by Fred Espenak, a retired NASA astrophysicist, show the moon reached perigee, its closest point to Earth, later that same day, at 221,726 miles (356,833 km). That was the closest perigee of 2025, which made it the year's closest full moon.

NASA explains that a "supermoon" is a full moon that happens near perigee. It isn't an official astronomical term, NASA says, but it's typically used for a full moon within at least 90% of perigee. At its closest, a full moon can look up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the year's faintest full moon, though the difference is hard to notice by eye. Supermoons happen three or four times a year, back to back, and can bring higher tides than usual, according to NASA. NASA has also noted that November's full moon is often called the Beaver Moon.

The next full moon is Nov. 24, 2026, according to the USNO.

Have sky photos you took yourself? We'd like to see them.