RARE SUPER BLUE MOON 8/19/24

RARE SUPER BLUE MOON 8/19/24
Full Moon Date August 2024: How to see the Sturgeon Blue Moon and how it got its name.

a sight that has inspired myths, superstitions and awe through the centuries - when the night sky is lit up by the seemingly-perfect glowing sphere of a full moon.

We experience one full moon every month, with each one given a different evocative name.

Here's how to see the eighth one of 2024 - the Buck Moon.

What is a Blue Moon?
This moon is particularly special as it is a Blue Moon although, despite the phrase ‘once in a Blue Moon’, it’s not actually that rare.

It’s the term given to the the third full moon of a season that contains a total of four full moons (a season typically only contains three full moons). It means you get a Blue Moon every couple of years - but it’s actually not blue.

Some people also - incorrectly - say that a Blue Moon is when you get two full moons in the same month, which also happens every couple of years.

Why do full moons have different names?
Full moon names are often attributed to Native American tribes that would give full moons nicknames to keep track of them as they didn’t record time using months found in the Julian or Gregorian calendar. Most of the names were linked to a specific event, for example this wolf moon is associated with the presence of howling wolves nearby their camps at this time.

Other moons like the blood moon were thought to be caused by Jaguars who attacked the moon and left it bleeding hence the red colour. These lunar systems and their names differed between tribes but it seems Colonial Americans adopted some of these names and incorporated them into their own calendar systems - their use then spread to other countries, including the United Kingdom.

When are the other full moons of 2024?
Here’s a full list of the remaining full moons in 2024:

September 18 - ‘Harvest Moon’ (also a Supermoon)

October 17 - ‘Hunter’s Moon’

November 15 - ‘Beaver Moon’

December 15 - ‘Cold Moon’

Monday's rare super blue moon is a confounding statistical marvel
How rare is it? That depends on who you ask. But it's safe to say, Monday's full moon will be special.

A rare sky spectacle will occur Monday night that (probably) won't happen again for years: A full moon that can be called both a supermoon and blue moon will grace the night skies over the U.S.

Dubbed a "super blue moon," the rare combination occurs when the different cycles of blue and supermoons happen to align on the calendar, said NASA's Noah Petro, Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter project scientist.

If that's not confusing enough, astronomers also have varying definitions for what counts as a supermoon and what counts as a blue moon. (Just last year a full moon met the criteria for both, by some definitions.)

Here's why Monday's full moon is so special:

What is a supermoon?
When the moon’s orbit brings it closer to Earth than usual, this cosmic combo is called a supermoon. A supermoon occurs when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth at the same time the moon is full. The term was coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979.

What is a blue moon?
There are two types of blue moons: seasonal and monthly. The one Monday will be of the seasonal variety.

A seasonal blue moon occurs when there are four full moons in a single season (on this occasion, summer). When this happens, the third of the four is considered a blue moon.