The next Full Moon on Wednesday, August 30, is a special one. It’s the closest, biggest, and brightest Moon of the entire year, plus it’s also a Blue Moon. Bottom line: If you have clear skies, don’t miss the brightest Moon of the year!
In August, a second full Moon, a Blue Moon will make an appearance. The term Blue Moon is most commonly used when we have two full Moons in a single month. On Wednesday, August 30, the Full Moon will peak at 9:36 P.M.
This Full Moon is also a “Supermoon.” In fact, it’s the closest Supermoon of 2023. “Supermoon” is a catchy term for what astronomers call “a perigean full Moon” which is when the full Moon happens at or near its closest point to Earth in its oval-shaped orbit.
It’s exceptionally close in Moon miles from Earth (222,043 miles). The next time we’ll have a closer full Supermoon is November 5, 2025, when the moon lies 221,817 miles from Earth.
A supermoon exceeds the disk size of an average-sized Moon by up to 8% and the brightness of an average-sized full Moon by some 16%. You may not perceive the difference in size, but a supermoon will appear brighter in the sky.
A Supermoon can also cause higher tides than usual.
In 2023, we have a Blue Moon and a Supermoon on the same night, which happens roughly every 10 years. This won’t occur again for another 14 years, in the night sky in January and March 2037.
The word “sturgeon” means “the stirrer,” which is what this giant fish does when it is looking for food; it stirs up the mud and silt on river and lake bottoms. Notice the pointed snout and whisker-like tactile organs near the mouth. Credit: Tennessee Aquarium.
https://www.almanac.com/content/full-moon-august
