Chances are those who looked up at the sky on Wednesday night thought: "Gee, the moon is big tonight."
You weren't wrong. You had the pleasure of witnessing a full supermoon grace our skies.
A supermoon is when the moon is at its closest approach to Earth on its elliptical orbit.
At its furthest point the moon is 405,696 kilometres away, but during this supermoon, it was only 357,344 kilometres away.
Our beloved moon was 14 per cent bigger than usual and 100 per cent more romantic.
![](https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/175630965/53ac6995-8c00-4d07-ad5a-95680e585c0f.jpg/r99_0_4000_2637_w1200_h791_fmax.jpg)
![](https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/175630965/fbd764d1-f609-4d5a-b9a3-14a95ecdd9b6.jpg/r99_0_2459_2327_w1200_h1134_fmax.jpg)
![](https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/175630965/79c7035c-776f-4cfc-8fea-a00a3cb9963e.jpg/r99_12_2459_2327_w1200_h1128_fmax.jpg)
![](https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/175630965/8f9573a1-24d4-4187-9d65-16a6fa4526dc.jpg/r99_0_4000_2667_w1200_h800_fmax.jpg)
The moon's incredible proximity to our planet also leads to superstitious beliefs held by some, including syncing up of menstrual cycles and more babies being delivered on the night (attributed to gravitational pull).
However, the lunar phenomenon's influence on human behaviour has largely been dismissed by modern scientists.
Although French researchers found oysters to open up during this lunar phase.
![](https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/175630965/673b35ab-94c9-4afd-b8e6-beb15f5a0d14.jpg/r99_0_2048_1407_w1200_h662_fmax.jpg)
It was the first supermoon of the month with the second one, a blue moon, expected on August 31.
Another supermoon will also occur on September 29, this year.
While supermoons happen with regularity, about three of four times a year, a blue moon normally only occurs every two and a half years or so.
![](https://www.canberratimes.com.au/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/175630965/a5583098-d1f6-4370-912c-1335c8af6aae.jpg/r99_157_843_817_w1200_h787_fmax.jpg)
In 2018, there were two blue moons in the year and one of them was a lunar eclipse.
The next time two blue moons will appear in the same year will be 2037.
This means it's time to do those things you only do "once in a blue moon".