Meteor Shower, Full Moon to Shine Over Hudson Valley Tonight

There's nothing spookier than a full moon in October. With that being said, Wednesday's full moon has nothing to do with ghosts or haunted spirits.

Sure, it's spooky season but the full moon on Wednesday, October 20th is called The Hunters Moon. NASA explains further writing: "The earliest use of the term "Hunter's Moon" cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1710. According to the Farmer's Almanac, with the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the harvesters have reaped the fields, hunters can easily see the animals that have come out to glean (and the foxes that have come out to prey on them)."

If you looked up towards the sky at all this week, you probably thought the moon was already full.  NASA states that it appeared full starting on Monday (10/18). When will be the best time to experience the Full Hunters Moon?

Nasa says:

The full Moon will be Wednesday morning, Oct. 20, 2021, at 10:57 a.m. EDT. The Moon will appear full for about three days around this time, from Monday night through Thursday morning (and possibly the earlier part of Thursday evening).

Not only will there be a full moon tonight but, according to Space.Com, there will also be a meteor shower. The Orionid meteor shower to be exact. Space.Com writes:

Orionid meteors are known for being fast and leaving persistent trails of ionized gas as they hurtle through Earth's atmosphere. The meteors will appear to come from the northeastern side of Orion, which gets high enough to see in mid-northern latitudes by about 10:30 p.m. local time. At that point the moon will still be high in the sky — from New York city it will be about 40 degrees above the east-southeast horizon.

With that being said, NASA adds that the Orionid Meteor Shower will peak Thursday morning, October 21st but might get lost in the brightness of the full moon.

As for the forecast, well there will be a little cloud coverage Wednesday into Thursday but we're hoping the full moon will shine right through it.