Super Full Moon & Southern Taurids meteor shower
On 5th November 2025, the skies over Malaysia will see not just one, but two, astronomical events: the Super Full Moon, also nicknamed the Beaver Moon, and the Southern Taurids meteor shower.
Observers around the world, Malaysians included, can witness a bright and full supermoon illuminating the skies, as well as the meteor shower offering glimpses of meteors streaking across the heavens.
What is the Super Full Moon?
The Super Full Moon in November is regarded as the largest and brightest of three supermoons that occur in a year, hence its name. This celestial event marks the moment when the full moon reaches its perigee.
In more layman’s terms, it’s when the moon is at the closest point to Earth in its orbit – at 356,832km – as the moon’s orbit around the earth is elliptical, resulting in varying distance of the moon to the earth.
Image credit: NASA
During this phenomenon, which falls on 5th November this year, the moon appears larger and more luminous than typical supermoons. To be precise, NASA puts it to be 14% bigger and 30% brighter.
Image credit: Bernama
The Super Full Moon is also called the Beaver Moon in some parts of the world. But don’t expect anything related to the adorable animal in terms of appearance – it’s widely believed to be nicknamed as such as the phenomenon occurs at the same time beavers are most active in nature, right before winter comes.
What is the Southern Taurids meteor shower?
Image credit: CNN
The Southern Taurids meteor shower is an annual meteor event that occurs from 23rd September to 20th November in 2025. It is expected to peak on 5th November.
Known for producing bright fireballs, the Taurids offer a slower-than-average meteor speed, which makes their fireballs easily visible and memorable for observers.
The appearance of these meteors is due to Earth passing through streams of debris left by Comet Encke. The fireballs streak across the sky, resulting in a spectacular sight against the backdrop of the full moon. Like with all astronomical events, it is best observed under clear, dark skies away from city lights.
When to catch the Super Full Moon & meteor shower?
According to the Malaysian Space Agency (MYSA) in a Facebook post, the Southern Taurids meteor shower is expected to peak on the night of 5th November to the early morning of 6th November, with around 5 meteors streaking across the skies per hour. It’s safe to say that you should be keeping your eyes to the night sky from around 9pm till 4am.
Meanwhile, the moon enters the Full Moon phase at 9.19pm on 5th November.
Image credit: @derrickrecords via Instagram
On the night of 12th November to the morning of 13th November, a similar Northern Taurids meteor shower will take place, with 5 shooting stars expected per hour.
MYSA has released a handy guide to all the astronomincal phenomena taking place in November, including when the moon is closest and furthest away from the earth and also other meteor showers:
Image credit: Agensi Angkasa Malaysia – MYSA via Facebook
Witness the Super Full Moon & Taurids meteor shower
If you were awed by the Blood Moon back in September, it’s time to mark your calendar and set the alarm for 5th November too. There’ll be a dual astronomical event that combines the glow of the Beaver Moon and the spectacle of the Southern Taurids meteor shower.
Cover image adapted from: @derrickrecords via Instagram, CNN