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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Adam Robertson

Stunning images show super blue moon light up Scotland's skies

STARGAZERS were treated to the sight of a rare super blue moon on Wednesday evening in a phenomenon that will only happen once this year.

Despite its name, a blue moon is not named after the colour and instead refers to the second full moon in one calendar month.

The image below shows a snap of the moon next to the Wallace Monument. 

Most months only have one full moon, so a second is quite a rare event, occurring approximately once every two or three years.

More images below show the moon above Edinburgh. 

Whether or not people were able to catch a glimpse was dependent on local conditions.

Low cloud cover, favourable weather and no obstructions on the horizon were all key to catching a glimpse of the rare sight.

Astronomer Professor Don Pollacco from the Department of Physics at the University of Warwick said: “One of the flukes of nature is that the apparent size of the moon can be very similar to that of the Sun.

“This occurs because, while the Moon is much smaller than the Sun, it is much closer to the Earth.”

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