Incredible photos show the sturgeon supermoon around the world
August is a big month for moon watchers, with two supermoons in the calendar.
The month of moon-watching kicked off last night (August 1) with the Sturgeon Moon, which became visible at dusk when the moon was at its closest point to the Earth.
Before we look at the amazing photos captured around the world, here are some quick moon facts.
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A full moon is the phase of the moon when the whole moon is illuminated.
There is a full moon every lunar cycle but because our calendar doesn't sync with the lunar cycle, we sometimes have two full moons in one month.
This is called a blue moon. August is a blue moon month.
A super moon is when the full moon nearly coincides with perigee – the point in the orbit of the moon at which it is nearest to the Earth.
This makes the moon appear as much as 14 per cent larger and 30 per cent brighter than when it's furthest away from Earth.
A supermoon that occurs in the month of August is called a Sturgeon Moon.
The name Sturgeon Moon comes from a US publication called The Old Farmer's Almanac, which is an annual magazine that has been in print since 1792.
According to The Old Farmer's Almanac, August’s full moon was traditionally called the Sturgeon Moon because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this part of the American summer.
Sturgeon are prehistoric-looking fish that have been traced back to around 136 million years ago.
Females do not start reproducing until they're 20 years old but they can live up to 150 years.
The publication's website said the name had 'Native American, Colonial American, and European sources'.
Ok, got all that?
A second supermoon will rise later this month, on August 30, making it a blue moon.
Keryn Donnelly