This week’s supermoon will be the last of 2022

Three supermoons have filled our skies in as many months this year, and this week sees the fourth – and last – supermoon of 2022. Supermoons are full moons that appear much bigger and brighter than normal.

This is because they take place when a full moon coincides with the point in the moon’s orbit when it’s closets to the Earth. They don’t happen all that often, so to catch a glimpse of the rare celestial event is pretty special.

And the good news is that skies are set to be pretty clear when the supermoon reaches it peak this week – but the bad news is that you’ll have to stay up pretty late to catch it.

As reported by Science Focus, the Sturgeon supermoon rises at 8.55pm on Thursday 11th August as seen from London as the sun begins to set at 8.30pm. The supermoon will reach its peak – otherwise known as a syzygy, when the Moon is almost directly between the Sun and the Earth in a straight line configuration –  at 2.36am on the morning of 12th August.

Of course, the moon itself isn’t actually any bigger, but when the supermoon rises and sets on the horizon it creates a ‘moon illusion’, whereby objects surrounding it – such as trees and buildings – make it look much bigger by comparison. Conversely, when the moon is in the middle of the sky, there’s nothing to compare it to, so it seems smaller. 

Sadly, this will be the last supermoon of the year. There was the Flower Moon in May, then June’s Strawberry Moon, followed by the Buck Moon – the largest supermoon of the year, orbiting closer to Earth than any other full moon – last month.

 The Old Farmer’s Almanac  named August’s full moon after the giant sturgeon fish of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, which were often caught during this part of the summer. Alternative names for the Sturgeon Moon are the Flying Moon, Corn Moon and Ricing Moon, amongst others.