Thursday's full moon is not just a supermoon - it’s a blue moon as well. So get out and see it, as the next one won't appear until 2032.
This month’s second full moon occurs at 1.35pm on Thursday, August 31. The event occurs just nine hours after the lunar perigee, which is the name given to the moon’s nearest approach to Earth.
With a separation of 357,344km between Earth and the moon, this is the closest full moon of 2023.
Because of the moon’s proximity, some people call it a "supermoon". On Thursday, our planet’s only natural satellite will appear some 15% brighter and 7% larger than an "average" full moon.
To quote a stock infomercial phrase, "but wait, there’s more!". Thursday’s full moon is not just a supermoon. It’s a blue moon as well. A blue moon refers to the second full moon within a calendar month.
The term’s origins are debated, but it may have arisen from old English idioms, describing something rare or unusual as "once in a blue moon".
While blue moons are uncommon, I’m not sure I would describe them as rare. They occur roughly every 2.7 years; the last occurred on October 31, 2020, and the next will occur on May 31, 2026.Blue supermoons are a bit rarer than regular supermoons. There was a blue supermoon in December 2009; the next will occur in August 2032.
The moon will be close to Saturn on Wednesday and Thursday nights. The sixth planet from the sun is at opposition (its nearest point to Earth this year) tomorrow morning and will be closest to the moon in the sky on Thursday. This week’s chart shows that Saturn will be just over two degrees (or four lunar diameters) from the moon in the run-up to dawn.
Titan is a fascinating world. It is larger than Mercury, possessing a thick atmosphere and a surface covered in rivers and oceans of methane.
