The last supermoon of the year is set to appear in the night sky this week. Named the "Sturgeon moon", it is deemed to be the fourth supermoon in a row after the Buck moon in July, Strawberry moon in June, and Flower moon in May. A supermoon takes place when a full moon overlaps with the moon's "perigee," its closest approach to Earth, and, on Thursday (August 11), we’ll be treated to the fourth - and last - one of the year. With the weather brightening up over the week - this should be a great chance to peek at a full moon that may appear larger and more luminous than usual. <img class="wp-image-1263164611 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/2JGYYD7-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1707" />[[imagecaption|| A spectacular Thunder Supermoon, also known as a Buck Supermoon above Teesdale, UK. Credit: David Forster / Alamy]] According to <a href="https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/1390/august-2020-the-next-full-moon-is-the-sturgeon-moon/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NASA</a>, at the beginning of the 1930s, the Maine Farmer's Almanac began publishing Native American names for full moons. The term "Sturgeon moon" comes from the Native American Algonquin tribes, who realized that sturgeon fish were more easily captured at this time of year. The supermoon will emerge seven degrees above the east-southeastern horizon, the agency confirmed and will peak on Thursday night. The full moon itself won’t start until Thursday evening, and at this point, it will be high in the sky and won’t look that much larger to human eyes than it would during any other month, according to the <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2022/08/09/the-last-supermoon-of-2022-will-rise-above-the-uk-later-this-week-17151010/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Metro</a>. <img class="wp-image-1263164613 size-full" src="https://img.vt.co/2022/08/2JCJWPY-scaled.jpg" alt="" width="2560" height="1645" />[[imagecaption|| The strawberry supermoon sets above a cloud over Huddersfield in Yorkshire, England. Credit: PA Images / Alamy]] However, if you look for the moon shortly after it has ascended into the sky, you may benefit from an "illusion" that occasionally makes our natural satellite look bigger. The exact cause for a "moon illusion" is undetermined, but, as space historian Osnat Katz documented in <a href="https://theconversation.com/supermoon-how-an-illusion-makes-the-full-moon-appear-bigger-than-it-really-is-159721" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>, it is just something constructed by our own minds. According to Katz, you can tell because, "if you cover the Moon with your thumb, you’ll always be able to block it out, whether it looks tiny high up in the sky or whether it looks huge closer to the horizon". The illusion is something that's been recorded for thousands of years and some scientists think the illusion might happen because the moon is nearer to the horizon at this point. This may deceive our brains into thinking that it’s closer than it is. NASA proposes that the best time to look for the meteors will be after midnight Saturday - and spectators need to look north and away from the moon's gaze, as per <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/sturgeon-moon-last-supermoon-of-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBC News</a>. The next supermoons won't be until August 1, 2023, and August 31, 2023. <h6>Featured image credit: Arto Hakola / Alamy</h6>

The last supermoon of 2022 is set to light up our skies this week

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