UAE - The night sky over the UAE and the rest of the world was made extra brighter on Friday by a supermoon — the fourth and final supermoon of the year.

Residents did not require special equipment to appreciate the super bright Moon as it appeared five per cent bigger and 13 per cent brighter than the average full moon, according to US Space Agency Nasa.

In Dubai, avid sky watchers enjoyed the celestial spectacle at Al Thuraya Astronomy Centre with telescopes provided by Dubai Astronomy Group (DAG). There were also lectures and photography sessions.

According to the DAG, a supermoon is a full Moon that happens when it is closest (called perigee) to Earth in its elliptic orbit, resulting in "a larger-than-usual apparent size of the lunar disk as viewed from Earth.”

The supermoon on Friday is also called the Harvest Moon because its occurrence is at start of the autumn season.

According to Nasa, before electricity became available, farmers depended on the Moon's light to harvest their crops at night. "The Moon's light was particularly important during fall, when harvests are the largest” thus the moniker Harvest Moon was given.

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