August Will Have Two Supermoons, Including a Rare Blue Supermoon
The end of the month will feature the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2023 The supermoon rising in July of this year. There are four supermoons predicted in 2023. Photo: Antonio Calanni/Associated Press By Joseph De Avila Aug. 1, 2023 5:30 am ET Stargazers will have the chance to view two supermoons—slightly bigger, brighter moons—this month. The first supermoon of August will take place Tuesday, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. The second, on Aug. 30, is a blue supermoon, a rarer phenomenon that won’t occur again for nearly a decade. The Almanac predicted four supermoons in 2023: the two in August, as well as one that occurred in July and one that will take place in September. The one at the end of August will be the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2023. What’s
The supermoon rising in July of this year. There are four supermoons predicted in 2023.
Photo: Antonio Calanni/Associated Press
Stargazers will have the chance to view two supermoons—slightly bigger, brighter moons—this month.
The first supermoon of August will take place Tuesday, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. The second, on Aug. 30, is a blue supermoon, a rarer phenomenon that won’t occur again for nearly a decade.
The Almanac predicted four supermoons in 2023: the two in August, as well as one that occurred in July and one that will take place in September. The one at the end of August will be the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2023.
What’s a supermoon?
If the moon is full at the moment when its orbit is closest to Earth, that is a supermoon. At its nearest point, the moon is about 226,000 miles from Earth, on average.
A supermoon may appear up to 8% larger and 16% brighter than an average-size moon, according to the Almanac.
What is a sturgeon moon?
The full moon of August is traditionally called the sturgeon moon.
Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
August typically has one full moon. It is traditionally called the sturgeon moon, according to the Almanac, because August is when the large fish found in the waters of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain in New York and Vermont was most readily caught.
The sturgeon moon will appear Tuesday, reaching peak illumination at around 2:30 p.m. ET. After sunset, the moon will rise in the sky to the southeast.
What is a blue moon?
A blue moon is when there is a second full moon in a single month. The phrase “once in a blue moon” is often used to describe a rare event, but the National Aeronautics and Space Administration says there is a blue moon once every two to three years.
The moon doesn’t turn the color blue during a blue moon, according to NASA. However, the moon can take on a blue tint because of certain types of clouds or particles from volcanic ash and smoke in Earth’s atmosphere.
On Aug. 30, the moon will be both a blue moon and a supermoon: A blue supermoon. The last time there was a blue supermoon was in December 2009, according to website Time and Date. The next one will occur in August 2032.
During the blue supermoon, the moon will come within 222,043 miles of Earth, which the Almanac says is exceptionally close. The supermoon will peak at about 9:30 p.m. Eastern Time.
There is another meaning for blue moon, according to NASA. While each season, such as summer, typically has three full moons, sometimes there are four. The third of those four full moons is a blue moon.
July’s supermoon as seen in Paris.
Photo: stefano rellandini/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
Write to Joseph De Avila at [email protected]
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