Once in a blue Supermoon occurs Wednesday night!
SYRACUSE, NY (WSYR-TV)
When does the blue Supermoon rise and set?
The third consecutive Supermoon of four this year occurs Wednesday night, August 30th when the moon rises over the east-southeastern horizon at 7:57 pm and sets at 6:53 Thursday morning over the west-southwestern horizon.
Why is it called a blue moon?
Why is this full moon called a blue moon? Not because of its color, but because it’s the second full moon in the same month. A blue moon occurs on average about once every two and a half years, or about 7 times in 19 years.
Fingers crossed that clouds depart sooner than later
Unfortunately, CNY will probably have to contend with some low clouds to start Wednesday evening, but we think after 9 or 10 pm the sky should start to clear and certainly clear more so after midnight. Hopefully, the sky clears during the evening when most of us are still awake before bed so we can more conveniently view the blue Supermoon.
Distance moon is from earth compared to normal…
Normally the moon is about 240,000 miles away from the earth. Wednesday night it will reach a point only 222,043 miles away, or the closest/biggest/brightest Supermoon of 2023!
Not just the moon that is going to be brighter than usual
Also Wednesday night, not only is the moon going to be closest to earth compared to any other time this year, but so too will be the planet Saturn right next to the Supermoon! So, you’ll have a great big and bright moon and Saturn next to each other rising Wednesday night and setting early Thursday morning.
The moon to us on earth will appear about 7to 8% bigger and 15 to 16% brighter than a typical full moon Wednesday night. For the casual observer, however, that difference may be too subtle to notice the size, but you will be able to tell the difference with the brightness.
Last Supermoon of 2023 occurs…
By the way, if you miss this Supermoon Wednesday night, you’ve got one more chance to see a supermoon this year. The final one of 2023 occurs September 28th when the Harvest Moon rises at 6:45 pm over the eastern horizon and sets Friday morning at 7:03 over the western horizon.
When is the first Supermoon of 2024? September 18, and it’s only one of two that occur in 2024.
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