VIDEO
See a video of 2023’s brightest supermoon here, then learn more about the photos below.
The year’s brightest supermoon
The EarthSky community was busy capturing amazing images of the Blue Moon supermoon on August 30, 2023. Enjoy some of their remarkable photos here.
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Lorraine Boyd in Delmar, New York, captured these images on August 30, 2023. Lorraine wrote: “I was excited about the thought of capturing the Blue supermoon, especially on my wedding anniversary. I waited for the clouds to clear as it rose, but no luck. It was still beautiful.” Congratulations on your wedding anniversary! Thank you, Lorraine!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Judith Gaffney in Birmingham, U.K., captured this image on August 30, 2023. Judith wrote: “I was really lucky to get this pic as there was a very thick cloudy sky most of the time.” Thank you, Judith!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Alexander Krivenyshev of WorldTimeZone.com near Manhattan, New York, took this photo of a ‘Blue’ moon over the city on August 30, 2023. Thank you, Alexander!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Steven Bellavia in Boston, Massachusetts, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Steven wrote: “The Blue supermoon, clearing the trees, just after moonrise.” Thank you, Steven!
More photos of the Blue supermoon
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Stojan Stojanovski in Bitola, Macedonia, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Stojan wrote: “My friend shows you the super Blue Moon tonight on the top of the mountain.” Thank you, Stojan! See more of the best photos of the year’s brightest supermoon below.
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | José Palma in Mina São Domingos, Portugal, captured this series on August 30, 2023. Jose wrote: “For the planning, I took in consideration that it would be more appealing to have a subject for foreground (little village), a subject for middle ground (wind mills) and the supermoon in the background.” It worked out beautifully! Thanks, José!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Abhijit Patil in Milpitas, California, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Abhijit wrote: “Being an astrophotographer, I was bound to photograph the last Blue supermoon to rise until 2037. It was brilliant orange in color and amazingly bright and big.” Thank you, Abhijit!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Ken Chan in San Francisco, California, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Ken wrote: “Observed tonight’s blue supermoon rising behind San Francisco. The building in the foreground is the Palace of Fine Arts, which was originally built for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The color of the moon is due to wildfire smoke.” Thank you, Ken!
More brightest supermoon photos
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Pruthu Vanara in Gandhinagar Gujarat, India, captured this comparison of a supermoon from August 30, 2023, and micromoon from February 6, 2023. Pruthu wrote: “The distance between Earth and moon varies from time to time, the apparent size of the moon also varies. Both of the images were taken from same camera and focal length.” Thank you, Pruthu!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Cecille Kennedy in Depoe Bay, Oregon, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Cecille wrote: “The blue supermoon shines behind the clouds as it rises over the hills and the trees. A few minutes before the moon rose, the clouds were lavender rose pink. Then the lovely moon appeared.” Thank you, Cecille!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Mohammad Adeel in Lahore, Pakistan, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Mohammad wrote: “I wanted to capture this once in a blue moon in a way that I would remember it for times to come. I decided to capture the rising moon with Minar-e-Pakistan in the frame. I felt no one captured the identity of Lahore (rather Pakistan I should say) along with any celestial objects.” Thank you, Mohammad!
Photos of the blue supermoon
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Kannan A in Singapore captured this image on August 30, 2023. Blue moons aren’t necessarily blue, but Kannan’s was! He wrote: “This picture of the full moon was unedited. Strangely, when I photographed the moon, everything turned out blue!” Thank you, Kannan!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Soumyadeep Mukherjee in Kolkata, India, captured this moon image on August 30, 2023. Soumyadeep wrote: “The sky conditions were hazy and cloudy, but that allowed me to click an image with a distant tower.” Thank you, Soumyadeep!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Matthew Chin captured the supermoon as it set in Yuen Long, Hong Kong, on August 31, 2023. Thank you, Matthew!
So many great photos! We don’t know when to quit
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Jean-Baptiste Feldmann in Gleizé, France, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Jean-Baptiste wrote: “The full moon appeared all red above the houses on the horizon, about 10 kilometers away. Her color was truly spectacular. I think I much prefer a red moon to a blue moon!” We love red moons, too! Thank you, Jean-Baptiste!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Kamala Venkatesh in La Jolla, California, captured this image on August 30, 2023. Kamala wrote: “The moon kept playing hide-and-seek with the clouds. But I like this moon with just a bit cloud-covered.” Thank you, Kamala!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Osama Fathi in Cairo, Egypt, captured this image on August 31, 2023. Thanks, Osama!
View at EarthSky Community Photos . | Meiying Lee in Taipei, Taiwan, captured August’s 2 supermoons. Meiying wrote: “This August, there were 2 full moons, and I was fortunate enough to see and capture both of them in two different locations, separated by 6,500 kilometers. I was on the South Pacific in the early morning of August 2. On the evening of August 31st, in Taipei, amidst the convergence of 3 typhoons, the full moon unexpectedly broke through the clouds.” Thank you, Meiying!
Bottom line: See some incredible photos of the year’s brightest supermoon here. EarthSky community members outdid themselves during this unique opportunity when a supermoon and a Blue Moon coincided.
Kelly Kizer Whitt
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About the Author:
Kelly Kizer Whitt has been a science writer specializing in astronomy for more than two decades. She began her career at Astronomy Magazine, and she has made regular contributions to AstronomyToday and the Sierra Club, among other outlets. Her children’s picture book, Solar System Forecast, was published in 2012. She has also written a young adult dystopian novel titled A Different Sky. When she is not reading or writing about astronomy and staring up at the stars, she enjoys traveling to the national parks, creating crossword puzzles, running, tennis, and paddleboarding. Kelly lives in Wisconsin.