Stunning October 2021 Hunter's Full Moon Photos Show It Rising Around the World

Photographers and astronomers from around the globe gathered on Wednesday night to capture stunning images of October's Hunter's Moon.

A Hunter's Moon is the name given to the full moon that follows the Harvest Moon, usually in October or early November. This year Hunter's Moon was at its fullest on Wednesday, October 20, in the Northern Hemisphere, though it can still be seen in some detail over the next two days.

Jamal Nasir is an avid moon photographer. He described the Hunter's Moon as a special full moon for him personally. "Basically I'm a crazy moon lover. So the full moon is always special. But the Hunter's Moon is more special because it's my birthday month," he told Newsweek.

This year was no exception for Nasir, who goes by the handle The Moon Guy on Twitter, as he uploaded stunning images to the social media platform of the Hunter's Moon as seen from Pakistan.

For residents of the Southern Hemisphere in New Zealand and Australia, the full moon will be at its peak on Thursday, October 21. It won't be known as a Hunter's Moon, however, as it is currently spring in those countries.

The names of the Hunter's Moon and the preceding Harvest Moon, which fell on September 20 this year, are associated with the season in which they occur. The Harvest Moon is the closest full moon to the autumnal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, which usually falls on September 22 or 23.

Twitter user Veronica in the Fens is a professional photographer who specializes in scenic imagery. She caught some stunning images of the Hunter's Moon over Cambridgeshire.

"I love all the moons and try to capture them each month throughout the year. I have always been a lover of the autumn season, so the October full moon - Hunter's Moon - is extra special," she told Newsweek. "If the weather is overcast around the Fullmoon and I struggle to get a photo, I feel a bit sad and incomplete..."

Once every three years, the Harvest Moon occurs in early October and this pushes the Hunter's Moon back to November.

The names of these two autumn full moons are intrinsically tied to activities engaged in by our ancestors. The bright moon of September allowed farmers to stay out later harvesting crops, while the light of Hunter's Moon allowed these same farmers to turn their attention to the hunting of deer and other animals in an attempt to build food stocks before harsh winters.

The reason why Harvest and Hunter's moons provide more illumination is the result of the fact that the moon's orbit around the Earth is a flattened circle, or in the shape of an ellipse. This means that in the autumn the gap shortens between sunset and moonrise.

That was a boon for our ancestors before the advent of electricity as it allowed them to farm and hunt sooner in the evenings under the moonlight.