What Is a Blue Moon? How Many Times You Will Witness This Celestial Fest In 2023

Add as a preferred source on Google

Without a doubt, August is an exciting month and more like a celestial fest for Moon lovers. While on Tuesday, 1 August, Moon lovers witnessed the full Sturgeon Moon, 30 August will witness Full Blue Moon, which will be the closest point to the earth this year- about 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometres) away, which makes this an elusive super blue moon.

Following the Sturgeon full moon, the bright lunar face will recede with the moon being described as 'waning'. The waning moon will also rise and set an hour later each day. This leads to the next new moon on Wednesday, 16 August 2023.

The new moon marks the start of a new 29.5-day lunar cycle, the moon will be totally dark and it will set at around 6 am and 6 pm respectively. This will mean that the moon will be totally absent from the night sky during New Moon.

Post the new moon, the bright side of the moon will once again begin to turn towards Earth and the already lit lunar surface will brighten up. Astronomers call this progression "waxing." This celestial event will lead to the next supermoon, the 30 August Full Blue Moon.

According to a report by Associated Press, retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak said, 'Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset. And it happens twice in August.'

What Is A Blue Moon?

Despite the name, a blue moon will not appear blue in the sky. A blue moon is referred to as a second full moon that occurs within the same calendar month, which typically happens only once every two and a half years. A seasonal Blue Moon is the third Full Moon of an astronomical season that has four Full Moons. A monthly Blue Moon is the second Full Moon in a calendar month with two Full Moons.

The term 'Blue Moon' actually originates from a 16th-century expression, in which a blue moon referred to something that never - and later rarely - happened, mentions Encyclopedia Britannica. Others also believe that once the smoke and ashes after a volcanic eruption turned the Moon blue, so it is called Blue Moon.

Few also believe that its origin is dated back more than 400 years when folklorist Philip Hiscock has suggested that invoking the Blue Moon once meant that something was absurd and would never happen.

When And Where Can You See A Blue Moon?

On 30 August 2023, the super blue moon will reach its peak at 9:36 p.m. ET, as per the almanac. The celestial orb will also be visible the night of 31 August, if the sky is clear.

When Was The Last Blue Moon Seen?

The last time two supermoons were seen was in 2018 while the next such phenomenon will be witnessed in 2037, said Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project to AP.