Stunning pictures have captured the rare super blue moon above Bolton tonight.
Keen photographer Sky-Amber Brown says she was 'super excited' to have seen the rare phenomena - with the last one in 2009, according to the BBC.
She captured her photographs in Little Hulton, while Matt Hindley captured the spectacular sight in Rivington.
(Picture Pete Harrison)
Unlike its name suggests, a blue moon is not named after the colour and instead refers to the second full moon in one calendar month. The term blue is thought to be because it happens 'once in a blue moon'.
Most months only have one full moon, so a second is a quite a rare event - and the next super blue moon, so called because it looks larger and brighter, is not expected to be seen for another decade
Sky, 17, who is originally from Bolton, said: "Tonight I got a message from a mate of mine saying he could see the moon and it was pretty low.
"I was super excited to see the super blue moon and was waiting for it for a few days. I went to check and got my camera and went to my window. I started taking the pictures and was so overjoyed.
"I took it to my family and showed them. The super blue moon is something I see as a once in a life time chance and I feel so lucky."
Now Sky is planning on framing her picture of the bright super moon.
The blue super moon will be visible tonight and tomorrow.
The last blue Moon was in August 2021 and the next one will be in 2026.
But the combination of a blue moon and super moon is much rarer.
Astronomer Professor Don Pollacco, department of physics, 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.”
Adding that the moon has and elliptical orbit around the Earth, he continued: “Now that we understand the Moon’s orbit around the Earth we can talk about super moons.
“These occur when there is a full moon at the time when the moon is closest to the Earth.
“Consequently, the moon can look bigger (10-15%) and brighter (25-30%) than a normal full moon.”
Prof Pollacco said: “To see the full moon, look east after sunset. If you have a clear horizon it should be obvious.
“The moon is so bright that we can see it when it’s not particularly dark or even if the weather isn’t particularly clear.
“It will be visible all night and set in the west around sunrise.”
Dr Greg Brown, astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich said: “August brings the joining of two rare events in astronomy: a blue moon and a supermoon.
“However, both events have somewhat complicated definitions, and none are universally accepted.
“The most common definition of a blue moon is that it is the second full moon in one calendar month.”
He added: “A supermoon, on the other hand, is a full moon that occurs when the moon is in the closest part of its orbit around the Earth, though exactly how close it needs to be to make it ‘super’ is up for debate."
“During this time, the Moon will appear a little bigger and brighter than it normally does, though the difference is hard to spot by eye.”
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