A supermoon will rise over the Longquan Mountain observation deck in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, China, on August 19, 2024. The largest and brightest full moon of 2024 will rise on August 19, lighting up the night sky across China. (Yang Qitian/VCG via Getty Images)
If the moon seemed particularly bright on Monday night, it was because it was—in fact, it was the biggest and brightest moon of the year.
The lunar spectacle was the result of the confluence of two celestial events: a blue moon and a supermoon, a combined phenomenon that will not be seen again until 2037. A blue moon is a seasonal or monthly full moon, while a supermoon occurs when a full moon orbits closer to Earth than normal.
The blue supermoon is expected to be visible through Wednesday, so if you missed it Monday night, you still have a chance to see it this week. Below are photos from Monday.
A supermoon will rise over the Leifeng Pagoda in West Lake Sudi in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China, on August 19, 2024. (Xu Yan/Zhejiang Daily Press Group/VCG via Getty Images)
A day before the super full moon, people watch the rising moon with its red glow from smoke particles carried up in the upper atmosphere by the wildfires in North America on Parliament Hill in London, Britain, August 18, 2024. (Toby Melville/Reuters)
A rare blue supermoon will appear in the night sky over Sydney on August 19, 2024. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
A Sturgeon Moon, the first supermoon of the year, will rise next to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore on August 19, 2024. (Edgar Su/Reuters)
A plane flies in front of the moon one day before the full supermoon. The moon glows red, a result of the smoke particles carried in the upper atmosphere by the wildfires in North America. Seen from Parliament Hill in London, Britain, August 18, 2024. (Toby Melville/Reuters)
A supermoon will rise behind the Galata Tower in Istanbul, Turkey, on Monday, August 19, 2024. (Khalil Hamra/Reuters)
The first “supermoon” of 2024 will rise on the evening of August 19, 2024 in Yichang, Hubei Province, China. (Costfoto/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A supermoon, known as the Blue Moon and the “Sturgeon Moon,” rises over the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Sofia, Bulgaria, on August 19, 2024. (Spasiyana Sergieva/Reuters)
A supermoon rises over a residential building in Moscow, Russia, on Monday, August 19, 2024. (Pavel Bednyakov/AP)
Two women watch the rise of a nearly full supermoon over the Tagus River from the roof of the Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology in Lisbon, Portugal, on August 18, 2024. (Armando Franca/AP)
People walk past a rising supermoon at the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles on Monday, August 19, 2024. (Richard Vogel/AP)
The sun sets as Shiite pilgrims make their way to Karbala for the Arba’een festival in Babil, Iraq, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (Hadi Mizban/AP)
A TAP Air Portugal Airbus A330 in Star Alliance livery approaches for landing in Lisbon at sunrise on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, with a supermoon in the background. (Armando Franca/AP)
People gather to watch the supermoon, also known as the Blue Moon and “Sturgeon Moon,” in White Sand National Park near Alamogordo, New Mexico, August 19, 2024. (Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters)
