Tonight’s moon will be the biggest and brightest of the year, thanks to the convergence of two lunar events: a blue moon and a supermoon, which won’t be seen again until Jan. 31, 2037.
According to NASA, the event began Sunday morning and will continue through early Wednesday morning, giving the appearance of a full moon for three days.
The event closely follows last week’s rare overlap of the Perseid meteor shower and northern lights, which also resulted in dazzling photos from all around the world.
🔵 What is a blue moon?
There are two types of blue moons. The first is a seasonal blue moon, which refers to the third full moon in an astronomical season that has four full moons.
The second is a monthly blue moon, which refers to the second full moon in a calendar month with two full moons.
The two definitions are now used interchangeably as alternative understandings.
🌕 What is a supermoon?
The moon’s orbit is elliptical, which is an elongated circle. This means that sometimes the moon is closer to the Earth than at other times.
A supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth at the same time the moon is full, resulting in a slightly larger and brighter full moon.
🎣 How are moons named?
Tonight’s moon is also being referred to as a sturgeon moon.
In the 1930s, the Maine Farmers’ Almanac began naming the full moons, using expressions supposedly taken from Native American tribes (specifically the Algonquin tribe) and European settlers.
According to this almanac, these moon names corresponded to that month’s harvest — such as the corn moon in May, the strawberry moon in June or the buck moon in July.
By this naming convention, the August full moon is the sturgeon moon, named for the large fish in the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, fish that were more easily caught this time of year.
👀 How to view the blue supermoon
Tonight’s moon will be visible with the naked eye and will not require any particular location for viewing.
To see what time the moon will be rising where you live, resources like Almanac have moonrise calendars based on your zip code. There are also moon tracker apps that can provide detailed information for your location.
📸 Photos of the blue supermoon
To get a sneak peek of tonight’s rare lunar event, here are some photos of Earth’s satellite captured in places where the moon has already risen.
