When To See The Full Beaver Moon And Geminid Meteor Peak In VA, DC

VIRGINIA — The weather in Northern Virginia and DC should clear tonight in time to see the full beaver moon, which will reach peak illumination at about 8:30 to 8:50 p.m. ET Sunday, but will look full just after sunset.

November’s full moon is called the beaver moon because it’s the time of year when the namesake semiaquatic mammals move to their lodges, disappearing until spring. In the fall, before the water freezes, beavers store branches and other foodstuff in the underwater lodges, complex shelters built from the inside out with mud, grass and branches. They have an underwater entrance that most predators find impermeable, which also gives the beavers access to swim under the ice to get food.

The full beaver moon is also associated with the fur trade in North America, a practice that began centuries before the arrival of Europeans in the mid-1600s and continued for nearly 200 years afterward. Beavers were valued for their thick pelts, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.

The timing of Monday’s full beaver moon is fortuitous for meteor shower enthusiasts because it’ll be a sliver for the Geminid meteor shower peak on Dec. 13-14. The moon will be about 1 percent illuminated for the peak.

Arguably the best shooting star show of the year, the Geminids began Nov. 19 and continue through Christmas Eve. Faithful stargazers have said this shower reliably produces a good number of bright, intensely colorful meteors before midnight. According to NASA, the Geminids can produce up to 120 meteors an hour at the peak.

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Also coming up, the Ursid meteor shower intersects with the Geminids, running Dec. 13-24 and peaking Dec. 21-22. The Ursids are low-key, with only a sprinkling of meteors an hour.

And they intersect with the Quadrantids, potentially the strongest shower of the year, but also one of the hardest to catch. The Jan. 3-4 peak only lasts about six hours, and it’s often too cold at that time of year to spend too much time outside. Under dark skies, you could see 120 meteors an hour under a dark sky.

When the Quadrantids quiet down, meteor showers won’t reappear until spring 2024.