A rare Super Blue Moon is set to light up the night sky tonight, and stargazers will have to get their timings right in order to catch a glimpse of it.
The next full moon is set to rise on Wednesday, August 30, and will be one of the biggest and brightest moons of 2023.
Despite being named a 'blue moon', the moniker actually doesn't have anything to do with the color the moon will appear in the sky.
The term came about in the 1940s in reference to the second of two full moons within the same calendar month, which is what has happened in August, as the first full moon - the Sturgeon Moon - which was also a supermoon, fell on August 1.
A supermoon is defined as a full moon that occurs when the moon is closer to the Earth, meaning it appears larger in the sky as its orbit is not a perfect circle around the Earth.
The Super Blue Moon will rise just after sunset at 7.10PM EDT according to In The Sky and will rise from the Eastern horizon.
It will then reach its biggest and brightest once it gets to 180 degrees from the sun, at 9.36PM EDT and will be the first time a Super Blue Moon will be visible since 2009.
A blue moon only occurs once every two or three years on average according to NASA, so a blue moon that is also a supermoon is even more rare. While a Super Blue Moon can occasionally happen twice within two months, it can then be another 20 years before it repeats again, with the event occurring on average once a decade.
The next Super Blue Moon after the one on August 30 is not expected to happen until January 2037 - so 14 years' time - followed by another in March 2037, according to NASA.
According to David Moore, CEO of Astronomy Ireland, the phenomenon is "exceedingly rare", a he told RTE: "As there are 12 full moons every year, that means there have been 168 full moons to give one super blue moon."
As the moon's cycle takes 29.5 days from one full moon to the next, some months experience two full moons - but not all blue moons are supermoons.
Although a supermoon means the moon appears larger in the sky, it won't be perceptible by the naked eye and will only make a difference to avid skywatchers.
While there won't be another Super Blue Moon for the next 14 years after this one, stargazers will get o see another supermoon this year.
According to In The Sky, the Full Corn Moon will be visible on September 29 and will be the fourth supermoon in a row, as well as the last supermoon of the year.
The next supermoon will then not occur until September 18, 2024, with another set to happen on October 17, 2024.
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