Skywatchers rejoice! Today, you will have the opportunity to witness a rare celestial event known as the “Blue Moon” in your skies and the event is made even more fascinating by the phenomenon of the supermoon, which causes the moon to appear slightly larger and brighter than usual.
To add to the excitement, the moon happens to be in close proximity to the planet Saturn which put on a night show in the sky that Earth creatures were able to view a few days ago.
A supermoon occurs when the full moon’s orbit, which follows an elliptical path around Earth, draws it near to our planet. The moon is 4,05,500 kilometres from Earth at its apogee, or farthest point.
The blue moon will reach its peak brightness at 12:00 pm Wednesday (ET), and its zenith will be later at 10:00pm (ET). To witness the full moon, observe it after sunset during dusk hours.
The super blue moon will be visible on August 30 at 8:37 PM EDT.
It will be the largest of the four supermoons that occurred this year, and because it will be 3,57,344 kilometres away from Earth, it will appear larger than usual, The Guardian reported.
Furthermore, it is crucial to remember that the term “blue moon” has nothing to do with the colour of the moon and instead describes the occurrence of two full moons in a single calendar month.
Approximately every 2.7 years, according to Sky & Telescope, a full blue moon appears but since it only seldom occurs when “volcanic eruptions or forest fires send lots of smoke and fine dust into the atmosphere,” it will not appear blue.
