A rare super blue moon will be visible on Wednesday, 30th of August, for the first time since 2009; here’s how can you spot it
The Luna sight combines two events that create the super blue moon.
A supermoon occurs when the moon reaches its closest point to Earth in its orbit, and a blue moon describes the second full moon within a calendar month.
The second full moon occurs this week after the first one this August on the 1st.
This full moon, however, will be super.
The historic event hasn’t happened since 2009 and won’t occur again until 2037
The moon is ‘super’ as it’s much closer to the Earth, so it will appear even bigger. This week’s supermoon will be 222,043 miles away from Earth, making the full moon appear bigger than usual.
A moment in history for lunar events
The historic event hasn’t happened since 2009 and won’t occur again until 2037. There are 12 full moons yearly, meaning there must be 168 full moons to create a supermoon. On Wednesday night, the planet Saturn will be just above the moon.
David Moore, chairman of Astronomy Ireland, said: “For a super blue moon to have a bright planet close to it is extremely rare, probably once in a lifetime or rarer.”
For a super blue moon to have a bright planet close to it is extremely rare, probably once in a lifetime or rarer
How to see the super blue moon
The moon will peak in the UK at 2:35 a.m. on Thursday, August 31st.
The best time to watch is just as the moon is rising. This happens from the island of Ireland from 8:15 pm BST on Tuesday, from 8:35 pm on Wednesday, and from Thursday from 8:50 pm.
According to NASA on Wednesday, August 30th, the moon will appear opposite the sun at 9:36 pm EDT.
The weather could block the view, but the forecast predicts patchy clouds, hopefully leaving some clear spells.
