Once-a-decade event coming to Aussie skies this month

A rare celestial event will appear in Australia's skies later this month - and if you miss it, you'll be waiting a while to see it again.

August 31 will see the last "super blue moon" rise over Australia for six years, Weatherzone has reported.

"The next blue moon will occur in May 2026, while the next super blue moon will be in 2029," the website reported.

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While it sounds like a singular event, it's actually a combination of two.

A "blue moon" is the colloquial term for a full moon that appears after another one has already risen in the same calendar month.

It doesn't turn blue - the name is said to come from various sources, including an old expression for the impossible, and also a way to name a rare 13th full moon in an agricultural year, so that the others - Harvest, Yule, Easter, and so on - could retain their proper names.

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A super moon, meanwhile, is a full moon that rises when its orbit is closest to Earth.

It can appear up to 14 per cent larger than a regular full moon. It's more common than a blue moon, taking place several times a year.

And a super blue moon, when both events happen at once, takes place about once a decade, according to NASA.

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