--- title: How the Stunning Supermoon Looked Around the World description: Photos of the Aug. 1 Sturgeon Supermoon—from Boston to Brazil. canonical: https://time.com/6300725/august-supermoon-photos/ author: Jeffrey Kluger article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2023-08-02T17:56:54.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-24T16:13:57.102Z article:section: Science og:title: Here's How the Stunning Supermoon Looked Around the World og:description: Photos of the Aug. 1 Sturgeon Supermoon—from Boston to Brazil. og:url: https://time.com/6300725/august-supermoon-photos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt705514ebe651f6d0/698a3f2f096a9419976adfdb/supermooon-photos-around-the-world-04.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: supermooon-photos-around-the-world-04 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Here's How the Stunning Supermoon Looked Around the World twitter:description: Photos of the Aug. 1 Sturgeon Supermoon—from Boston to Brazil. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt705514ebe651f6d0/698a3f2f096a9419976adfdb/supermooon-photos-around-the-world-04.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- # Here's How the Stunning Supermoon Looked Around the World ## Video: Sturgeon Supermoon Illuminates the Night Sky Around the World [Watch (HLS stream): Sturgeon Supermoon Illuminates the Night Sky Around the World](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/pNzTDA61.m3u8) (1:04)  _Published 2023-08-02. The sturgeon living in the Great Lakes don’t have a lot to do with the moon—or at least they didn’t until the Algonquin Native American tribe came along. The Algonquins discovered that sturgeon were most plentiful in the lakes in August, and so they paid a small tribute to that fact. When a full moon appeared in the sky in that month, they dubbed it a sturgeon moon. But it wasn’t just any full moon that would earn the honorific. It had to be a so-called supermoon—one of which will occur today, Aug. 1._ Aug 2, 2023 5:56 PM CUT  The second supermoon of 2023, also known as the Sturgeon Moon, rises over the New York City skyline on Aug. 1, 2023. The second supermoon of 2023, also known as the Sturgeon Moon, rises over the New York City skyline on Aug. 1, 2023.Fatih Aktas—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  by [Jeffrey Kluger](/author/jeffrey-kluger/)  ## Jeffrey Kluger Editor at Large Aug 2, 2023 5:56 PM CUT The Earth and the moon snuggled up close last night—at least by cosmic standards. The two worlds [were just](https://www.livescience.com/space/the-moon/the-sturgeon-supermoon-augusts-1st-of-2-full-supermoons-swims-into-the-sky-aug-1 "undefined") 357,311 km (222,023 mi.) apart on the evening of Aug. 1\. That represents the perigee—or low point—in the moon's elliptical orbit around our planet. The apogee—or high point—is 405,500 km (253,000 mi.). Not only was the moon close, it was also full—a combination that gives rise to a so-called supermoon, one which appears 30% brighter and 14% larger than an ordinary full moon does at a more distant remove. ### More From TIME A bigger, brighter moon always brings out star gazers and photographers, as this collection of images from yesterday's cosmic spectacular illustrates. If you missed the great show, no worries. This year is a big one for supermoons. In addition to yesterday's, there was one on July 3, and there are two more to come, on Aug. 30 and Sept. 28\. The Earth and moon have been partners in the sky for 4.5 billion years. That long relationship can often yield things of great beauty.  A family stands in front of the full moon in Arguineguin, on the island of Gran Canaria, Spain, Aug. 1, 2023.Borja Suarez—Reuters  The moon rises behind Istanbul's Camlica Mosque in Istanbul, Turkey on Aug. 1, 2023Chris McGrath—Getty Images  The moon rises over a tower in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province of China on Aug. 1, 2023.VCG/Getty Images  The moon rises behind the ancient temple of Poseidon at cape Sounion, south of Athens on Aug. 1, 2023.Aris Messinis—AFP/Getty Images  The moon rises behind the Statue of Liberty on July 31, 2023.Gary Hershorn—Getty Images  The moon rises behind a cable car on Sugar Loaf mountain in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 1, 2023.Mauro Pimentel—AFP/Getty Images  The moon rises over Schwerin castle in Schwerin, Germany on Aug. 1, 2023.Jens Büttner—picture alliance/Getty Images  The moon rises behind Selimiye Mosque in Edirne, Turkey on Aug. 1, 2023.Cihan Demirci—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images  The moon rises over The Graves Lighthouse in Massachusetts Bay east of Boston, on Aug. 1, 2023.Joseph Prezioso—AFP/Getty Images ### More From TIME ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/6300725/august-supermoon-photos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/6300725/august-supermoon-photos/"},"headline":"Here's How the Stunning Supermoon Looked Around the World","datePublished":"2023-08-02T17:56:54.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-24T16:13:57.102Z","description":"Photos of the Aug. 1 Sturgeon Supermoon—from Boston to Brazil.","url":"https://time.com/6300725/august-supermoon-photos/","keywords":["Space","healthscienceclimate"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jeffrey Kluger","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/jeffrey-kluger/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/space/","name":"Space"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/6300725/august-supermoon-photos/","name":"Here's How the Stunning Supermoon Looked Around the World"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Sturgeon Supermoon Illuminates the Night Sky Around the World","description":"The sturgeon living in the Great Lakes don’t have a lot to do with the moon—or at least they didn’t until the Algonquin Native American tribe came along. 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