The biggest and brightest Moon of the year will be visible on Thursday from around the world.
It will be a rare opportunity to view a “blue supermoon,” which last occurred in 2009.
A blue Moon occurs when there are 13 full Moons instead of the usual 12 due to the arrangement of days in a year.
In the UK, early on Thursday morning will be the ideal time to view the sight if the skies are clear.
It has already been illuminating the skies all around the planet, from southern Europe to the Middle East to Asia.
This blue Moon is also known as a supermoon and will appear larger and brighter than usual. That is because it is near the closest point in its orbit around Earth.
But anyone hoping to see this spectacle tinged the colour blue will be disappointed.
The name of the Moon has nothing to do with colour. But instead is so called because it does not fall in the usual scheme of named Moons.
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Cultures around the world including Native American societies give names to full Moons.
A full Moon generally occurs once a month, meaning that an average year has 12. But the phases of the Moon actually take 29.5 days to complete, or 354 days for 12 cycles.
That falls short of the 365/366 days in a calendar year, so roughly every two and half years, a 13th full Moon is seen.
It is thought that the rarity is where the phrase “once in a bluemoon” may come from.
The last blue was in August 2021 and the next one will be in 2026.
But the combination of a blue and super Moon is much rarer and we will have to wait until 2037 to see it again.
No special equipment like a telescope is needed to observe the sight; it will just be a case of looking at the sky towards the south.
