NASA Alert Says Rare Supermoon And Blue Moon Are Coming Soon

The second full Moon of August will be a Supermoon as well as a Blue Moon all wrapped into one. Along with the incredible Supermoon, Saturn will be its closest and brightest for the year.

The second full moon in a single month is classified as a Blue Moon, according to the definition set by Sky and Telescope magazine in 1946. It also qualifies as a Supermoon, which refers to a full moon that is 90 percent or closer to perigee—the point nearest Earth reached by the Moon in its orbit. The moon will actually appear to be full for three days, with its peak being on the night of August 30, 2023.

While a Blue Moon is not actually blue in color, the moon did actually appear blue at one time in history. In 1883, an Indonesian volcano named Krakatoa exploded, causing plumes of ash to rise high into the sky and make the color of the moon appear blue to those looking up into the night sky. The volcanic eruption was said to be the equivalent of a 100-megaton nuclear bomb, and people over 600 miles away reported they heard a noise like a cannon shot.

The upcoming Blue Moon also coincides with the Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan, also referred to as Rakhi or Rakhi Purnima. The festival celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. One tradition of Rakhi is where a sister ties a cotton bracelet around the wrist of a brother, with the brother returning a gift to the sister as well. It is a sign of the continuing bond the two share.

The upcoming Supermoon will occur on August 30, between twilight and sunrise. Also on that night, the planet Mars will be setting on the western horizon, and Saturn will be viewable as evening twilight ends (around 8:42pm EDT) at approximately 5 degrees to the upper right of the Moon. Saturn will appear to rotate clockwise around the Moon as the night goes along.

On the morning of Thursday, August 31, there will be two more planets visible, those being Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter will be around 66 degrees above the southern horizon, and Venus will appear at 9 degrees above the eastern horizon.

So grab a loved one and head outside for a romantic night under the Blue Supermoon on the night of August 31—weather permitting of course.