This August will bring a special treat for sky gazers as the cosmos will feature a pair of supermoons: one at both the beginning and end of the month.
What are supermoons?
They’re called supermoons as they will have a more prominent appearance than usual, as the moon will be full during its closest orbits to Earth.
“The moon will look exactly the same as any other full moon, just slightly larger – only 14% larger at most – and correspondingly a little brighter,” said Naperville Astronomical Association President Rick Gering.
When can you the supermoons?
The first supermoon will appear Tuesday evening, coming from the southeast direction. It will be physically closer to the Earth than the norm, at approximately 222,159 miles away.
“Supermoons happen because the moon’s orbit around Earth isn’t circular: sometimes the moon is closer, so it looks bigger, and at other times it’s farther away, so it looks smaller. One good thing about supermoons is that they remind us that the relationship between Earth and the moon is dynamic, changing over time,” said Gering.
The second supermoon will unveil itself on the night of August 30 and will be slightly closer than the first, at 222,043 miles. The second supermoon is called a blue moon, as it is the second full moon in the same month.
Why supermoons are such a rare occurrence
Two supermoons in the same month are a rare sight, as the last occurrence was in 2018, and it won’t happen again until 2037, according to an AP report. So this month’s special moon show is an opportunity for people to witness a cosmic experience that happens sparingly in a lifetime.
“They do have a way of getting people to go outside and look up at the sky – and anything that gets people to look at the sky once in awhile is a good thing. We should all do that more often,” said Gering.
Though some may think this is a great chance to get a close look at not just the moon, but other heavenly bodies, astronomers say in fact the opposite is true.
“We see the moon’s craters and mountains and other features mostly by the shadows they cast across the moon’s surface, and at full moon, the sun is directly overhead on the moon – just like it is at solar noon on Earth. And just like here, features on the moon cast small shadows, at most, when the sun is directly overhead. So at any full moon, including a supermoon, the moon’s surface looks flat and washed out, at the same time that it’s washing out the sky’s other sights,” said Gering.
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