INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — August’s rare “blue supermoon” is almost here. 

Live Science reports that the biggest and brightest full moon of 2023 will grace the skies on Wednesday.

Scientists say a “blue supermoon” is the result of three lunar phenomena taking place at the same time. A blue moon occurs when there are two full moons in a single month.

Live Science posted online “The ‘blue’ supermoon’s name has nothing to do with the moon‘s color. In fact, it will actually be orange. The blue supermoon gets the first part of its name for a different reason: It’s the second full moon in August.”

According to timeanddate.com, “calendar blue moons” happen about every two or three years. The next “calendar blue moon” is set to occur on May 31, 2026. The most recent blue moon was in October 2020.

The Aug. 30, 2023, super blue moon will reach its peak at 9:36 p.m. ET, according to the almanac in this CNN report. The celestial orb will also be visible the night of Aug. 31, as long as weather conditions make it possible to see.

CNN also says the term “blue moon” actually originates from a 16th-century expression, in which a blue moon referred to something that never — and later rarely — happened, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica.

A “seasonal blue boom” occurs when a single year has 13 full moons instead of the normal 12. A  “supermoon” takes place when the full moon occurs at the nearest point to Earth in its orbit. 

Scientists say August’s second full moon will be the closest of four supermoons in 2023 at 222,043 miles from Earth. The first full moon on Aug. 1, 2023, was only 115 miles further away at 222,158 miles.

The next full moon will happen on Sept. 29. That is called a harvest moon and will be the last supermoon of 2023.