Full Blue Supermoon

A full moon occurs when the Moon is opposite the Sun in its orbit around Earth. The nearside of the Moon is fully illuminated.

This is the largest full moon in our skies in 2023. A “supermoon” is an astrological term for when a full moon falls near the Moon’s closest point to Earth in its monthly elliptical orbit. The August 31st full moon (August 30th for those in the United States) will appear about 6 percent bigger and 16 percent brighter than the average full moon of 2023.

This is also a blue moon, which colloquially refers to the second full moon within a calendar month. Important note ― the Moon won’t actually appear blue.