‘Tis the spooky season when there’s a full moon on Halloween.
With all the symbology around a full moon and the celebration of all things creepy on Halloween, the two seem to go hand-in-hand.
So how will that pan out this year?
The moon recently hit its full moon phase on Oct. 17. It was also a supermoon, the largest this year and the second-to-last of 2024.
It’s rare for there to be two full moons during a season — with a season defined by astronomers as the period between a solstice and an equinox, or vice versa, EarthSky reported.
When there‘s a second full moon during this period, it’s called a Blue Moon.
The last Blue Moon was also 2024’s first supermoon in August.
The next Blue Moon is not expected to come around Halloween. Rather it is scheduled for May 31, 2026, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich in London.
The last time there was a full moon on Oct. 31, which also happened to be a Blue Moon, was in 2020, according to NASA.
Despite the sense of festive eeriness around a full moon on Halloween, it isn’t a common occurrence. Full moons on Halloween take place, on average, every 19 years, the space agency said.
So when Halloween 2024 comes, trick-or-treaters are likely going to look up at a waning crescent with just 1% of the moon illuminated, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
People will need to wait before there‘s another full moon on Halloween. The next time it’s expected to happen is on Oct. 31, 2039, according to EarthSky.
