2023-08-04 23:23:55
The last time it happened was in 2018 and it won’t happen once more until 2037.
The month of August 2023 has reserved an extremely rare astronomical spectacle for us, since in addition to the unusual phenomenon of the “blue moon”, it will be accompanied by two supermoons.
Will we see a blue moon during the “blue moon”?
At NASA explain that since the 1940s the term “blue moon” has been used to refer to the second full moon of a calendar month. This rare event usually only occurs every 2.5 years, “That’s why when you hear people say ‘once in a blue moon…’ you know they’re talking regarding something rare,” notes the agency. NASA also clarifies that this does not mean the moon will appear blue.
On the night of August 1, 2023, our natural satellite was in the full moon phase, but it seemed a bit brighter and bigger than usual : it was a supermoon. Indeed, the moon was close from its perigee (the closest point of its orbit around the Earth), only 357,793 km [de la Terre]. (Editor’s note: the average Earth-Moon distance is 384,400 km).
Then, on the night of August 30, 2023, she will be once more in the full moon phase and at a distance of 357,934 km (very close to its perigee). The supermoon phenomenon will therefore occur once more. For all these reasons, the supermoon of August 31, 2023 will be a “blue moon”.
An extremely rare sight
The last time two full supermoons shone in the sky in the same month, it was in january 2018. Selon the Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, cité by AP, this event where two supermoons (supermoons) coincide with a “blue moon” will not reoccur until 2037.
Masi webcast the supermoon on the night of August 1 [2023], when it rose above the Colosseum in Rome. ” My goal is to capture the beauty […] I hope to bring the excitement of the program to our viewers,” Mr. Masi said. “The supermoon gives us a great opportunity to look up and see the sky,” he added.
The mid-August supermoon is traditionally called “sturgeon”, named following the fish most often caught in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain of North America during this part of the northern summer.
Translated from Spanish by Evelyn Tischer
The original article can be accessed here
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