Th supermoon lit up the night skies above Bolton last night. Stargazers in Bolton were treated to another stunning celestial phenomena last night — coming just a day after the dazzling Northern Lights were seen in parts of Bolton in the early hours of Tuesday above Rivington and Angelzarke. The Harvest Moon coincided with a rare partial lunar eclipse.
A supermoon occurs when the moon appears 30 per cent brighter and 14 per cent bigger in the sky, Becky Mitchell, Met Office meteorologist said. Picture by Ian Bleakley She said: “The reason for that is the moon has an orbit around the Earth and the moon is in the part of its orbit where it is closest to the Earth.” The supermoon was at it fullest on Tuesday night but will still be visible for the next few nights.
Northern Lights in the early hours of Tuesday. Picture Mark Hainey The partial lunar eclipse – when the Earth’s shadow covers part of the moon – will occur at 3.45am and four per cent of the moon will be covered, Miss Mitchell added.
The partial eclipse peaked at 3.45am. Picture by Keith Rylance READ MORE: Northern Lights above Bolton captured in stunning photos Blue supermoon glows red and orange in the skies above Bolton The celestial event always occurs before the autumn equinox and signals the start of the new season as we wave goodbye to the summer months.
Picture by Ian Bleakley The full moon closest to the equinox is always called the Harvest Moon - this is because it's bright enough to allow farmer.