Reports indicate that the only giant “blue moon” of the year will appear in the sky tomorrow, Wednesday night, and the moon will be approximately 357 thousand kilometers away.
Normally, a supermoon occurs when the moon reaches its closest point in its orbit to Earth, called perihelion, about 363,000 km from our planet, where the moon appears 7% larger than a normal full moon.
Even if you don’t notice the difference, it’s a fun astronomical phenomenon that even city dwellers can see without venturing into unlit areas.
Does the moon really appear blue?
“Blue Moon” is a term unrelated to the Moon’s actual color, although visually the Moon appears to have a bluish hue, which occurs under certain atmospheric conditions, for example, when volcanic eruptions or fires release particles into the appropriate atmosphere. Size that preferentially scatters red light.
In 1883, the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia killed 36,000 people. Sulfur dioxide and ash filled the air, and volcanic dust particles blocked red light from filtering out other colors, making the moon appear blue. Frequent wildfires in the current post-climate change world could have the same effect, according to London’s Natural History Museum.
Tomorrow, Wednesday, the giant moon will be the second full moon for the month, with the first full moon appearing on August 1st, and tomorrow’s moon will be approximately 357,344 kilometers away, according to retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak. He calculated the distance of the super moon till the year 2100.
Giant moons are not a rare occurrence in themselves, there are usually three or four in a year. Blue moons occur very rarely, once every 10 to 20 years, and the next giant blue moon will occur 14 years later in 2037, according to NASA. So the chance of the moon appearing, and then actually seeing a blue moon becomes an unusual event.
“Award-winning beer geek. Extreme coffeeaholic. Introvert. Avid travel specialist. Hipster-friendly communicator.”
