Satellite and supermoon: Stunning images reveal tiny spacecraft engulfed by spectacularly lit lunar surface

Millions of people gazed up at a moonlit sky last night to witness an incredible astronomical phenomenon, the Daily Mail reports. 

With cameras at the ready, sky watchers around the world were treated to the sight of a perigree moon, more commonly known as a supermoon.

One photographer in London was able to capture not only the stunning lunar surface, but also a mysterious-looking dark object as it floated by.

Lee Thompson, photographer for group travel company The Flash Pack, took these pictures of the supermoon around 11.30pm BST last night.

‘I captured the image from my back garden in Brixton using an 800ml Canon lens,’ Mr Thompson told MailOnline.

‘At first I thought it was an aircraft as it was moving from right to left at the same sort of speed you’d expect from a plane.'

Mr Thompson added that he believes it may be some sort of satellite shown up by an unusually bright moon.

However, Dr Ilian Iliev, a reader in Astronomy at Sussex University claims the most likely explanation for the shadow is the International Space Station.

'The shape is slightly strange, however, there could be something docked to it at the moment,' he said.

Colin Stuart, an astronomer at Royal Observatory Greenwich, said at first sight it is plausible the dark object is the International Space Station.

But, he added, that if the image was taken from London, then it is unlikely it is the ISS.

‘Looking up ISS visibility for the UK in July shows that it doesn't make an appearance above London until the 19th,’ he said.

He added the most logical explanation is that it is a satellite, which often pass in front of the moon.

A supermoon occurs when the moon is 30,000 miles closer to Earth than the farthest point in its orbit making it look bigger and brighter than usual.

In fact, it is just an optical illusion caused by its position in the sky.

It is not that uncommon. Last year we had three although only one made the news. This year we will also have three supermoons with the next occurring on August 10 and then on September 9.

It is the one in August that moon fans are really looking forward to with glee and anticipation. The moon will be 863 miles closer than last night’s.

Geoff Chester at the US Naval Observatory said: ‘I guarantee that some folks will think it's the biggest moon they've ever seen if they catch it rising over a distant horizon, because the media will have told them to pay attention to this particular one.’

The ‘Moon Illusion’ is probably what will make people remember this coming set of full moons, more than the actual view of the Moon itself, he said.

The illusion occurs when the moon is near the horizon.

For reasons not fully understood by astronomers or psychologists, low-hanging moons look unnaturally large when they beam through trees, buildings and other foreground objects.

When the moon illusion amplifies a perigee moon, the swollen orb rising in the east at sunset can seem super indeed.

'There's a part of me that wishes that this 'super-Moon' moniker would just dry up and blow away, like the 'Blood-Moon' that accompanied the most recent lunar eclipse, because it tends to promulgate a lot of mis-information,' admits Dr Chester.

'However, if it gets people out and looking at the night sky and maybe hooks them into astronomy, then it's a good thing.'