The cosmic curtain will rise on August 30 night with the second full Moon of the month, also known as a Blue Moon. It will also be a ‘Super Moon’ because the celestial body will be closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright.
This will be the closest full Moon of the year, just 357,344 kilometers or so away.That’s more than 160 kilometers closer than the August 1 Super Moon.
“Super blue moons occur about every 10 years, on average. There won’t be another Blue Super Moon until 2037.
As a bonus, Saturn will be visible as a bright point 5 degrees to the upper right of the Moon at sunset. The ringed planet will appear to circle clockwise around the Moon as the night wears on.
What time will it be visible?
The Blue Moon will achieve its maximum brightness around 9.30pm IST on August 30.
The Blue Super Moon will reach its peak by around 7.30am on August 31.
What is a Blue Moon?
A seasonal Blue Moon is the traditional definition of a Blue Moon and refers to the third full moon in a season that has four full Moons, according to NASA.
The second definition — borne out of a misunderstanding of the first — is a monthly Blue Moon, which refers to the second full moon within a single calendar month. This is what will happen on August 30-31.
As the cycle of the phases of the Moon lasts approximately one month, we typically experience 12 full Moons each year. But the Moon’ phases actually take 29.5 days to complete which means it takes just 354 days to complete 12 lunar cycles. So every 2.5 years or so a 13th full Moon is observed within a calendar year.
This 13th full Moon doesn’t conform to the normal naming scheme and is referred to as the Blue Moon.