A supermoon has lit up the night skies – but the event may have been obscured for many in the UK by cloud cover.
The May full moon – known as the flower moon – coincided with the satellite being at its closest to the Earth during its orbit, making it appear larger and brighter.
During the celestial event, the moon usually appears around 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter but large parts of the UK appeared to have a cloudy night going into Wednesday.
According to Patricia Skelton, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the best time to see the supermoon will be later in the evening, after sunset.
Ms Skelton said: “For the best views of the supermoon, wait for the moon to climb higher up into the sky.”
She said a supermoon happens when a full moon occurs at the same time, or close to the time, that the moon reaches its closest point to the Earth–a point called perigee.
May’s supermoon also coincides with a lunar eclipse which will see the moon turn red, but that will only be visible in parts of South America, Australia and south-east Asia.
