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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Ariane Sohrabi-Shiraz

What is Sturgeon Supermoon? Exact peak time and how it's different to other full moons

Those who take a second to look up to the sky tonight will be in for a beautiful surprise.

The August full moon will be high in the sky – but it's not just your average monthly lunar display.

Also called the "Sturgeon" full moon, it will also be the four and last Supermoon of the year.

This means it will appear larger and brighter in the sky because of its proximity to Earth.

In addition, it will also coincide with the Perseid meteor shower – meaning skygazers are in for an amazing treat. Here is everything you need to know, including how it's going to be different from a regular full moon.

What is the Sturgeon moon?

August's full moon is known as the Sturgeon moon (Daily Record)

The Surgeon moon is the name given to August's full moon, according to the Old Farmer's Almanac.

It gets its name from Native Americans due to the importance of the sturgeon fish.

The Giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were easiest to catch during the last part of the summer.

The lake sturgeon is quite rare today because it was heavily over-fished in the 19th century, and because of damage to their habitat.

What is a Supermoon?

A Supermoon is bigger and brighter than a regular full moon (REUTERS)

The full moon of August will be the fourth and final Supermoon of the year.

When the moon is at its closest point to Earth, it's known as the lunar perigee. This occurs at about 253,000 miles, or 405,500km from the planet.

The reason this occurs is that the moon's orbit isn't a perfect circle, so it varies how close the orb is from Each.

NASA's Noah Petro, deputy scientist of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission, told Space.com: "The main reason why the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle is that there are a lot of tidal, or gravitational, forces that are pulling on the moon."

He added: "You have all of these different gravitational forces pulling and pushing on the moon, which gives us opportunities to have these close passes."

A Supermoon occurs when the moon is at a stage where it's closest to Earth. During this stage, they can appear about 30% brighter, and 14% larger than usual.

When is the Sturgeon Supermoon peak?

The Sturgeon Moon will peak on August 12 (Daily Record)

The Sturgeon Supermoon will peak overnight from Thursday, August 11 to Friday August 12.

The exact time of the peak will happen at 2.36am on Friday.

If you miss the peak, don't worry. It will still look fairly full at the weekend.

The best time to see the moon is after the sun sets and it gets dark. As seen from London, the Supermoon will rise at 8.55pm in the southeast.

The best time to look will be an hour or so after rising, weather permitting.

The good thing is that you don't need any special equipment to see the supermoon – just head out and look up to the sky!

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