Skywatchers are in for a treat as the month of August will see two supermoons and the very unusual “Blue Moon.” When a full moon is closer to Earth than usual, the brightness and disk size of an average-sized full Moon both rise by around 16 percent, creating what is known as a supermoon.
The first full Moon of the month will be visible on August 1 in the late afternoon around 2.32 p.m. EDT (12.02 a.m. IST on August 2). Around this period, the Moon will be full for three days, from early Monday morning to early Thursday morning.
The moon’s somewhat elliptical orbit around the Earth causes it to sometimes be closer to and occasionally further from Earth, which causes the phenomena to occur. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a reference book with weather predictions, the gigantic sturgeon of the US Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most often taken around this time of summer. For this reason, it is traditionally known as the “Sturgeon Moon.”
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the Full Moon will peak on August 30 at 9.36 p.m. ET (7.06 a.m. IST on August 31).
The Blue Moons come in two varieties, monthly and seasonal, according to NASA. The second Full Moon in a month with two Full Moons is known as the Blue Moon. The third Full Moon in a season with four Full Moons in astronomy is known as the seasonal Blue Moon.
A Blue Moon, despite its name, has nothing to do with the Moon’s color. However, owing to particles pushed into the atmosphere by natural disasters, real blue-tinted Moons are very unusual, according to the US space agency. Blue Moons typically happen every two to three years. The most recent Blue Moon occurred on August 22, 2021.
According to former NASA scientist Fred Espenak, warm summer evenings are the best times to see the full moon rising in the eastern sky just before sunset twice in August.
According to the article, Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, who founded the Virtual Telescope Project, the last time two full supermoons occurred in the same month was in 2018 and it won’t happen again until 2037. the expression “once in a blue moon” was coined.
How can Supermoon be viewed?
Clear skies are required to see these celestial phenomena, therefore skywatchers who are interested in doing so should be aware of this. Outdoor telescopes or binoculars may improve the experience.
