The fourth and final supermoon of the year will rise on Thursday, offering an exciting and spectacular view to the sky gazers and astronomy enthusiasts. For the last time in the year 2020, the moon will be bigger and brighter than usual.

Known as Flower Moon, Corn Planting Moon, Milk Moon, the Vesak Festival Moon, the next full moon happens to be the fourth in the series of 2020s super full moon and will reach its full phase on Thursday morning. During this phase, the moon will appear exactly opposite to the Sun and will see the moon pass by Earth at the closest point in its orbit.

According to NASA, the moon will reach its full bloom at 6:45 am EDT on Thursday and appear full for at least three days from Tuesday evening through to Friday morning. Since this celestial event will be visible through the naked eye, moon gazers have an incredible opportunity to observe the moon and photograph it during this time.

As per The Maine Farmer's Almanac, this happens to be spring's second and May's first full moon, and ancient tribes of United States called it Flower moon signifying the season spring. This event is particularly important for Buddhists as it marks the birth, enlightenment, and death of the revered founder Gautama Buddha to be celebrated on the same day as Buddha Purnima.

This is probably the last chance for people to view a supermoon, the term coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979. It is a phenomenon whereby the moon appears larger than usual because of its closest approach to the earth, also known as the perigee. This phenomenon occurs either on the new or full moon.

Meanwhile, the upcoming supermoon is expected to impact Earth's oceans as it produces "extra gravitational pull causing extra-high tides in the days following its closest pass," according to Independent. As per the report, this can "occasionally result in coastal flooding." However, forecasts by the Met Office reportedly suggests that the weather for May "is not expected to be particularly unsettled."

blood supermoon
The moon during a total lunar eclipse appears red or copper colour Johannes Schedler/Panther Observatory/Nasa

The last super full moon occurred in April 2020 and the next one is predicted to occur in April 2021.

NASA