Look For The Full Beaver Moon Rising Over San Francisco

Winter is fast approaching and we’re enjoying some of 2023’s final full Moons in San Francisco. November’s full Moon, named the Beaver Moon, will reach peak illumination at 1:16am on Monday, Nov. 27, so you’ll need to look for it on the night of the 26th to see it shine brightly over the city. The Moon will appear full throughout Thanksgiving Weekend, so make sure to look up starting on Friday. Perfect timing for all the upcoming Thanksgiving activities.

Here’s a quick rundown of sunset and moonrise times for the Beaver Moon in SF:

According to Farmer’s Almanac, the Beaver Moon is so named due to it being the time of year in which beavers start to take shelter. It’s historically linked to the time of year in which beavers were trapped for their pelts as part of North America’s fur trade.

Many Native American tribes have other names for Beaver Moon including Digging (or Scratching) Moon (Tlingit), Deer Rutting Moon (Dakota and Lakota), Whitefish Moon (Algonquin), Frost Moon (Cree), and Freezing Moon (Anishinaabe).

More about the full Moon

To our brains, the full Moon looks especially large and orange-tinted just after it’s risen over the horizon. Farmer’s Almanac tells us that this “Moon Illusion” is simply due to the fact that from our perspective, the Moon is closer in proximity to other “earthly objects” such as familiar buildings, chimneys, and items on the skyline. Once the Moon has risen high overhead, it looks smaller because there are no artifacts nearby to compare it to. As for the orange tint, that’s because the Moon is further away when looking at it over the horizon, and the light takes longer to reach our eyes. By that time the shorter “blue” wavelengths of light have scattered in Earth’s atmosphere and we’re left with the longer “red” ones.

If you miss the full Moon this month, not to worry! Here’s when to look for full Moons in San Francisco for the next 6 months.