Good news for lunar lovers, as the first Super moon of the year is fast approaching on August 19 at 6:26 pm UTC. It’s also a double whammy of celestial phenomena: as well as being “super”, the Moon will be “blue” – here’s what that all means.
The Moon’s orbit is not quite a perfect circle, so as it travels around the Earth it passes through its closest point (we call it perigee) and its most distant (known as apogee). A Super moon occurs when the Moon is full and at perigee – and because it is at its closest to us, it appears bigger and brighter, hence the term Supermoon. The difference is difficult to notice with the naked eye, however.
Monday’s Super moon will be the first of four this year, with the others occurring on September 18, October 17, and November 15. Of these, the one in October is tipped to be the closest at 357,364 kilometers (222,055 miles). Next week's approach will be 361,970 kilometers (224,917 miles) – compared to the average Earth-Moon distance of 384,400 kilometers (238,900 miles), that’s pretty close.
If you weren’t excited enough at the prospect of a bigger, bolder Moon, the coming Super moon will also be a Blue Moon – but unfortunately, it won’t be turning a stunning shade of sapphire.
There are two definitions of Blue Moon, which have nothing to do with color. The first is a seasonal Blue Moon, the third Full Moon in a season that has four Full Moons. This is the traditional definition and the type we will be seeing on Monday. The other definition refers to the second Full Moon in a single month.
Despite what the phrase “once in a Blue Moon” might have you believe, they’re not that uncommon: Blue Moons tend to occur every two to three years.
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