The last supermoon of the year, the Sturgeon Moon, shone in all its glory Thursday night.
The term “supermoon” was first coined in 1979 by astrologer Richard Nolle and refers to “a new or full Moon that occurs with the Moon at or near (within 90 percent of) its closest approach to Earth in a given orbit”. It’s when the moon is biggest and brightest. Thursday’s supermoon was a marginal supermoon and is the third closest full moon of the year after the June and July supermoons. While it may be a supermoon bronze medalist, it was still pretty cool.
The sturgeon moon overlapped with the Perseid meteor shower, but still surprised onlookers that it appeared full from Thursday night into Saturday morning.
The sturgeon moon is named after the Native American Algonquian tribes who, according to the Maine Farmers’ Almanac, referred to the August full moon as the sturgeon moon after the fish that were easiest to catch in the Great Lakes and other bodies of water in the afternoon. summer
Check out these details. Credit: Getty Images: NurPhoto / Contributor
The sturgeon moon creeps over the horizon in Italy. Credit: Getty Images: NurPhoto / Contributor
The Sturgeon Moon with fireworks in Edinburgh. Credit: Getty Images: Jane Barlow – PA Images / Contributor
Beautiful! Credit: Getty Images: NurPhoto / Contributor