Distance and folk names
Supermoon and Harvest Moon
A supermoon on this page is a full moon at or below 360,000 km in this model. Harvest moon is the full moon nearest the September equinox. Both sit in the year table.
Next supermoon in this model
Harvest moon
That name is a folk label for the full moon nearest the September equinox. It is not a different moon and not a weather forecast. On this page that instant is marked in the year table. Other month names (wolf, snow, hunter) are the usual U.S. almanac labels for a full moon.
The Moon's distance changes each month. Some full moons fall nearer Earth than others. This page uses one cutoff, 360,000 km, and prints the number so a closer full that still sits above the line is not dressed up as a supermoon.
These distances and names are for learning and curiosity. They are not an observatory ephemeris, and they are not a claim that a closer moon changes sleep or luck.
How this is calculated
Distance uses the largest periodic terms in the same Meeus-style argument set as the phase model. Mean distance in the copy is 384,400 km. Harvest moon on this page is the full moon nearest the September equinox, which is usually in September and sometimes in October. The other month names follow the civil month of the instant on this device. Other writers use other supermoon cutoffs; the number on each row is the part that can be compared.
Questions
Will a supermoon look twice as large?
No. The difference from a typical full moon is a modest change in apparent size. Photographs that look huge are usually a long lens plus a building in the foreground.
Why is January 2026 not marked if some lists call it a supermoon?
In this model that full moon sits a little farther than 360,000 km. The row still shows the distance. A looser cutoff would include it. The page does not move the line to collect more labels.
Is a wolf moon a different kind of moon?
No. It is a common U.S. almanac name for January's full moon. The table keeps those words, so a searcher can see they attach to an ordinary full moon.
Does this page do horoscopes?
No. Folk names are culture. Distance is geometry. Neither is a forecast.