Look up at the sky Wednesday for a super blue moon.
No, it won’t have a blue color. It’s called a blue moon because it’s the second full moon of the month. The first occurred August 1.
The cycle of a full moon is 29.5 days, so you don’t typically see two full moons in a month, thus the term “blue moon.” (Yes, we can hear you singing Billie Holiday while scrolling through this story.)
It’s a super blue moon because of its size. “When the Moon is closest to Earth (a “supermoon”), it looks about 14 percent bigger than when it’s farthest from Earth. This is similar to the size difference between a quarter and a nickel. Because the Moon will be close to us in its orbit, it will appear a bit brighter than usual,” according to NASA.
The moon will be about 30 percent brighter. It will appear full for three days, from Tuesday night to Friday morning, according to NASA. You can check out when the moon rises by city.
Rarity of the Super Blue Moon
It will be more than 13 years from now before you get to see the super blue moon combination.
“The time between super blue moons is quite irregular ― it can be as much as 20 years ― but in general, 10 years is the average,” NASA’s website said. “The next super blue moons will occur in a pair, in January and March 2037.”
The last time it happened was January 31, 2018.
Feature image of a super moon, stock.adobe.com
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