{"id":48680,"date":"2023-08-17T08:27:32","date_gmt":"2023-08-17T08:27:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ab823bc3-8c58-4422-bd23-cc01ff4f5d52"},"modified":"2023-08-17T08:32:31","modified_gmt":"2023-08-17T08:32:31","slug":"how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"How to see the ‘Super Blue Moon’ at the end of August 2023"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>

By Pete Lawrence\n <\/p>

Published: Thursday, 17 August 2023 at 08:27 AM<\/p>

\n\n

How to see the ‘Super Blue Moon’ at the end of August 2023<\/h1>
The full Moon on 30\/31 August 2023 will shine big and bright, and is what’s known by some as a ‘blue Moon’.<\/p>
But how much bigger will August’s blue Moon<\/a> be compared to an average full Moon<\/a>, and are blue Moons really worth the hype?<\/p>
We can get a better understanding of what we really mean by a ‘blue Moon’ in August by considering how the Moon appears in our sky over the rest of the month.<\/p>
\n
How to observe the Moon with the naked eye or telescope<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul> August’s blue Moon explained<\/strong><\/h2>\nComparison between the perigee (closest) and apogee (farthest) Moons. Credit: Alamy Stock Photo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
The Moon reached perigee on 2 August at 06:52 BST (05:52 UT). Lunar perigee is the point at which the Moon’s elliptical orbit brings it closest to Earth.<\/p>
The full Moon at the start of the month occurred on 1 August at 19:31 BST (18:31 UT), 11 hours and 21 minutes before perigee, making this a perigee full Moon, also known as a proxigean Moon or a supermoon<\/a>.<\/p>
A perigee full Moon or supermoon is 14% larger and 25% brighter than an apogee full Moon, although the differences aren\u2019t obvious to the naked eye<\/p>
In practice, however, a supermoon won’t look much different to the ones that precede or follow it.<\/p>\n
$\"The$
The Sturgeon Super Moon Above The Walls of Cefal\u00e0 Diana Castle, Sicily, captured by Dario Giannobile, 1 August 2023. Equipment: Canon EOS 7D DSLR camera, Sigma 150-600mm lens @ 900mm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
And because there was a full Moon on 1 August, that means there\u2019s room for a second full Moon within the month of August.<\/p>
This occurs on 31 August at 02:35 BST (01:35 UT), 9 hours and 44 minutes after perigee on 30 August at 16:51 BST (15:51 UT), making it also a perigee full Moon and the closest of the four occurring this year.<\/p>
As the second full Moon in a month, it\u2019s known as a ‘Blue Moon’, so this supermoon is dubbed a ‘Super Blue Moon’.<\/p>
Get weekly Moon dates and phases delivered directly to your email inbox by signing up to receive the BBC Sky at Night Magazine e-newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n
$\"A$
A perigee full Moon (left) appears 30 larger than an apogee full Moon (right). Credit: Pete Lawrence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
What is a blue Moon?<\/strong><\/h2>
A Blue Moon being \u2018the second full Moon in a month\u2019 isn\u2019t what the term used to mean, but a misinterpretation that appeared in print in 1946.<\/p>
As it\u2019s easier to understand than the original \u2018third full Moon in a season of four\u2019 meaning, it stuck.<\/p>
Ironically, full Moons at this time of year tend to rise at a fairly leisurely pace, staying at low altitude.<\/p>
Consequently, the 31 August Blue Moon is more likely to appear orange than blue!<\/p>
For more on this, read our guide on why the Moon sometimes appears orange<\/a>.<\/p>
This article originally appeared in the August 2023 issue of <\/strong><\/em>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Pete Lawrence Published: Thursday, 17 August 2023 at 08:27 AM How to see the ‘Super Blue Moon’ at the end of August 2023 The full Moon on 30\/31 August 2023 will shine big and bright, and is what’s known by some as a ‘blue Moon’. But how much bigger will August’s blue Moon be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":48681,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023.jpg",1024,682,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023.jpg",800,533,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023.jpg",1024,682,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/how-to-see-the-super-blue-moon-at-the-end-of-august-2023.jpg",1024,682,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Pete Lawrence Published: Thursday, 17 August 2023 at 08:27 AM How to see the ‘Super Blue Moon’ at the end of August 2023 The full Moon on 30\/31 August 2023 will shine big and bright, and is what’s known by some as a ‘blue Moon’. But how much bigger will August’s blue Moon be…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/48680"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48680"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48680"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}