Final supermoon of 2020 set to grace skies over UK
The final supermoon of the year is set to rise in the sky on Thursday.
The full moon in May is also known as the “flower moon”, signifying the flowers that bloom during the month.
Other names include the hare moon, the corn planting moon, and the milk moon, according to Royal Observatory Greenwich.
The celestial event is expected to be visible early in the morning as well as after sunset as the moon rises in the south-east.
Greg Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory, told the PA news agency: “Technically the exact moment of full moon is 11.45am, however the moon will not be visible in the sky in the UK at that time.”
But the Earth’s natural satellite will still appear bigger than usual on Thursday morning, when it sets at around 5.42am in London, as well as on Thursday evening, when it rises at around 8.44pm.
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He said: “Times for moonrise and set vary slightly across the UK, but not by more than about 10 minutes or so.”
This full moon will also be a supermoon, meaning it will be about 6% larger than a typical full moon and around 14% bigger than a micromoon, which is when the moon is at its furthest point from Earth.
Dr Brown told PA: “The moon’s orbit around the Earth is not entirely circular, instead a slightly flattened circle or ellipse.
“As such, it is sometimes closer to and sometimes further away from the Earth.
“While definitions vary, a supermoon typically occurs when a full moon coincides with the moon being within the closest 10% of its orbit.”
Dr Brown also said this event would be the third and final supermoon of this year.
He told PA: “Because of how the dynamics of orbits work, these usually occur in runs of two or three with longer gaps of several months between each set of supermoons.”
The next supermoon will be visible in April 2021.