It was a marvelous night for a full moon as seen in this stunning skywatching image.
This photo was taken by VegaStar Carpentier in the early evening of Aug. 1, 2012 from Paris, France using a Canon EOS 1000D.
August will have two full moons this year. The second full moon will take place on Aug. 31, called a blue moon. Extra days in a solar year accumulate faster than that of a lunar cycle making an extra full moon every two to three years. It takes a "synodic" month or 29.53 days between one full moon to the next. The full moon occurs when it can fully reflect the light of the sun giving it a beautiful glow.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at firstname.lastname@example.org.