Watch as rare super blue moon rises over Japan

Holly Patrick
Wednesday 30 August 2023 10:40
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Watch as a rare super blue moon rises over Japan on Wednesday, 30 August.

The phenomenon, which will only happen once this year, will appear over the UK on Thursday night.

Its name does not allude to a colour, instead referring to the second full moon in one calendar month - a rare event occurring approximately once every two or three years.

This week's spectacle is the last chance to witness a super blue moon this decade, as the next one will occur in August 2032.

It is the second time this month that stargazers have been treated to a lunar spectacle after the sturgeon moon which occurred earlier in August, marking the first time in five years that two supermoons have appeared in the same month.

The blue moon will appear bigger in the sky at 222,043 miles away, compared to 252,088 miles when it is at its furthest point from Earth.

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