A supermoon is a phenomenon in which the Moon is closer to Earth than at other times, making the full moon larger and clearer than usual, and can be clearly observed with the naked eye. The super blue moon that appeared on August 19 is also known as the "sturgeon" moon.

This month's full moon is also called a super blue moon, a combination of two phenomena: a supermoon (when the moon is very close to Earth at the time of the full moon) and a blue moon (when the full moon occurs twice in a calendar month or three times in four months). Normally, there are only three full moons in each season; however, because the full moon cycle occurs every 29.53 days, there will occasionally be four full moons in a season. The extra full moon during the season is called a blue moon; it occurs on average every 2.7 years.