Stargazers were wowed by the Harvest Supermoon that illuminated the night sky on 6-7 October. This stunning image shows our closest neighbour as it appeared from Manciano, Italy. It was taken as part of astrophysicist Gianluca Masi's Virtual Telescope Project. The Harvest Moon is the name given to the full moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. Historically, before the advent of artificial lighting, its bright reflected glow allowed farmers to continue working late into the night to bring in their crops before the onset of colder weather. This year's Harvest Moon, falling in early October, coincided with a special phenomenon - a supermoon. This occurs when the full moon appears at or near its closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit, known as perigee. Because of this proximity, the moon can look up to 14% larger and around 30% brighter than it does at its most distant point, creating an especially luminous sight as it rises opposite the setting sun.