Monday night, stargazers will be able to see the first supermoon of 2024. It will also be a blue moon—something that NASA says is incredibly rare.
It only happens once every 10 to 20 years, according to NASA. It won’t happen again for about 13 years, in January 2037.
What is a supermoon?
When the moon is at or near its closest point to Earth at the same time as it is full, NASA says it is called a “supermoon.”
During this event, because the full moon is a little bit closer to us than usual, it appears especially large and bright in the sky.
According to NASA, this happens about three to four times per year.
What is a blue moon?
Scientists say despite the name—the moon will not actually look blue.
NASA says this term just means there will be multiple full moons in a month.
There are two types of blue moons — seasonal and monthly.
According to NASA, the seasonal blue moon happens three or four times in a season.
A monthly blue moon means there are two full moons in a single month.
What will you see and when? According to NASA, only keen observers can spot the subtle differences. A supermoon can be 30% brighter than average. It will also appear slightly bigger.
NASA says the moon will reach its peak fullness on Monday afternoon, but depending on the weather, you could glimpse the blue supermoon until Wednesday morning.
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