We’re currently experiencing a supermoon summer, but the next full moon will be exceptionally special.
The August second full moon will be a “super blue moon,” debuting on Wednesday, Aug. 30. According to NASA, it will be more than a decade before another such confluence of lunar events occurs.
A supermoon occurs when a full moon occurs near the closest point of its monthly orbit to Earth. This causes the moon to look slightly larger and brighter than usual. According to NASA, about one-quarter of full moons are supermoons.
A blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month, which NASA estimates accounts for around 3% of full moons. This is due to the moon’s orbit being somewhat shorter than our months. Outside of rare and unrelated atmospheric conditions, the moon does not appear blue.
A supermoon and a blue moon occurring at the same time is an unusual confluence of timing. If you want you can also read – White Holes: The Ultimate Mystery of the Universe?
“The time between super blue moons is quite irregular; it can be as much as 20 years, but in general, 10 years is the average,” NASA writers Tracy Vogel and Ernie Wright said in a blog post. “The next super blue moons will occur in a pair, in January and March 2037.”
According to TimeAndDate.com, the August 2023 super blue moon will rise just before 8 p.m. on Aug. 30 and set just before 7 a.m. on Aug. 31.
This is the third of four supermoons in a row, beginning with the buck moon in July and ending with the harvest moon on September 29, roughly a week after the autumnal equinox and the first day of Autumn.
