Two Super Moons In August Mean Double The Stargazing Fun

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – The sky will provide a double bill of supermoons in August, culminating in a rare blue moon.

The full moon rises in the southeast on Tuesday evening, seeming slightly brighter and larger than usual. Because it will be closer than usual, only 222,159 miles (357,530 km) away, it will be dubbed a supermoon.

The moon will come even closer on Aug. 30 – only 222,043 miles (357,344 km) away. It will be a blue moon because it is the second full moon in the same month.

“Warm summer nights are ideal for watching the full moon rise in the eastern sky shortly after sunset.” And it happens twice in August,” said Fred Espenak, a retired NASA scientist known as Mr. Eclipse for his eclipse-chasing prowess.

In 2018, two full supermoons appeared in the sky simultaneously. According to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, head of the Virtual Telescope Project, it will not happen again until 2037.

The sky will provide a double bill of supermoons in August, culminating in a rare blue moon.

Masi will broadcast a live webcast of the supermoon when it rises over the Coliseum in Rome on Tuesday evening.

“My plans are to capture the beauty of this… hopefully bringing the show’s emotion to our viewers,” Masi wrote in an email.

“The super moons provides us with an excellent opportunity to look up and explore the sky,” he continued.

The first super moons of the year occurred in July. The fourth and final will take place in September. In August, the two will be closer than either of those.

Binoculars or backyard telescopes can improve the experience if the skies are clear, Espenak added, exposing characteristics such as lunar maria — the black plains left by past volcanic lava flows — and rays originating from lunar craters.

The August full moon is known as the sturgeon moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanack. This is due to the abundance of that fish in the Great Lakes hundreds of years ago around August.

SOURCE – (AP)