Super moons are rare: the last one was recorded last August
The first super moon of 2024 is going to light up the skies tonight – and with the weather we are experiencing, the sight of it should be awe inspiring.
As reports explain, super moons come round more regularly than ‘blue moons’, but still only occasionally. It is all to do with the moon’s proximity to earth.
This evening, the moon will be orbiting around 22,000 kms closer to earth than ‘normal’, rendering it 15% brighter – hence the denomination ‘super’.
But this super moon is not just super, it is also ‘blue’: the much rarer phenomenon, relating to either the second full moon in a month, or the third of four full moons in a season (between a solstice and an equinox).
Tonight’s full moon is the third of four full moons this summer, hence its extra special significance.
If you somehow miss tonight’s supermoon (remembering that it is most exciting when it is beginning its ascent, early evening), there are three more coming, all in the next few months. But there won’t be another ‘blue moon’ until 2043… ND
Source material: SIC Notícias/ Earth Sky
