Shine on harvest moon! Last supermoon of the year wows skywatchers as it appears bigger and brighter than usual in a clear night sky

A mesmerizing supermoon lit up the sky last night, in a rare astronomical spectacle that doesn’t will happen again until September 2024.

Stargazers were in for a treat when the so-called ‘Harvest Moon’ shone brightly shortly after the sun set at 6.45pm BST, marking the end of September.

It was the last of a rare series of four supermoons in 2023, including two in July, which will not be seen again for fourteen years.

Supermoons occur when a full moon nearly coincides with its ‘perigee’ of 221,484 miles (356,445 km) from Earth.

‘(This happens) when there is a full moon at the time the moon is closest to the Earth,’ astronomy professor Don Pollacco from the University of Warwick told MailOnline.

The last supermoon of 2023 rises over Whitby Piers on the North Yorkshire coast

The Harvest Moon rises over Ely Cathedral in the Cambridgeshire Fens on Friday evening

‘As a result, the moon can appear larger (10-15 percent) and brighter (25-30 percent) than a ‘normal’ full moon.

‘To most people they actually look the same. One thing to note is that when a full moon rises, it may appear larger than normal.

‘This is partly due to the Earth’s atmosphere and also due to an optical illusion, like seeing the moon next to trees.’

Unlike monthly full moons, supermoons usually occur three to four times a year.

This is due to the very specific conditions required for supermoons to form.

Astrophysicist Dr. Paul Strøm, a senior lecturer at the University of Warwick, told MailOnline: ‘The moon orbits the Earth in a slightly elliptical orbit – think of a slightly oblate circle or oval.

‘This means that the moon is sometimes a little closer to us and sometimes a little further away. At the same time, the moon goes through different phases – the shape of the sunlit part of the moon – as it orbits the Earth.

‘A few times a year it happens that we have a full moon, which coincides with the moon being at a point in its orbit where it is closer to us. That’s when people call it a supermoon.

“Since it only happens a few times a year, one of these supermoons must be the last.”

Although rare, the astronomical phenomena have been the focus of countless myths and speculation for centuries.

Even Richard Nolle, the astrologer who first coined the term in 1979, was part of this.

He claimed that supermoons can cause volcanic eruptions, worsen earthquakes and even influence the behavior of people on Earth.

These theories have since been debunked by scientists, who often prefer to use the term ‘perigee syzygia’ to describe the phenomena.

This specifically refers to a full moon that happens when the center of the moon is less than 360,000 km from Earth.

“The term itself has no scientific value: astronomers prefer to call it perigee full moon, but ‘supermoon’ is undoubtedly a much more charming name,” astrophysicist Gianluca Masi previously explained.

A plane passes in front of the Harvest supermoon last night as it lands towards London’s Heathrow Airport

The Harvest Moon over Sydney’s Macquarie Lighthouse last night

A full moon known as the Blue Moon rises behind the Temple of Poseidon, in Cape Sounion, near Athens, Greece, August 30, 2023

A supermoon occurs when a full moon nearly coincides with its perigee – the point in the moon’s orbit when it is closest to Earth

Tonight’s event is the last of a rare series of four supermoons in 2023, including two in July

It is believed that the name of this month’s Harvest, or Corn, Moon can be traced back to farming communities that usually gathered crops at the end of summer.

Fortunately, tonight’s supermoon will be big and bright enough to be seen clearly with the naked eye from anywhere in the country.

Although this is largely weather dependent, it is recommended to move away from cloudy areas with a lot of light pollution.

Binoculars can also be useful if you want to get a glimpse of the moon’s surface up close.