Wednesday’s “blue supermoon” won’t be blue, and it won’t be overly super, but it will be an astronomical event that happens even less often than once in a blue moon.
The first full moon of August happened on the first day of the month, the second of four consecutive supermoons, a phenomenon that makes the moon appear bigger and brighter than a regular full moon.,” according to CBSnews.com. The moon’s orbit is elliptical, so it passes through its point when it’s closest to the Earth (perigee) and farthest from the Earth (apogee) once a month. When the moon is full at perigee, it’s called a supermoon because it appears bigger and brighter in the sky, NASA.com reported.
The second full moon of August will appear on the 30th of the month, and it will also be a “blue moon,” the term for a second full moon in a single month, which happens once every two or three years. The moon is not actually blue, but this supermoon will be a bit bigger and brighter than the first one this month, NASA reported.
Sadly, chances are, you probably won’t notice it. NASA tells us that when the Moon is closest to Earth, it’s about 14% bigger than when it’s farthest from Earth -- similar to the size difference between a quarter and a nickel.
If you miss this blue moon, you’ll have to wait until May 2026 for the next one. Only about 3% of all full moons are blue moons. But 25% of all full moons are supermoons.
NASA did the math so you don’t have to: In 2037, there will be super blue moons in January and March. How often do we have blue supermoons? Sometimes it’s as long as 20 years, but the average is about 10 years, NASA declared.
