(Credit: Getty)
The first supermoon event of the year started yesterday and will continue tonight when the sun sets. At dusk this evening, Aussies can enjoy a ‘sturgeon moon’ and revel in its huge size!
A supermoon event only occurs when a full moon reaches the closest point to Earth in its orbit while being bathed in sunshine at the same time, which is what makes the moon appear so bright.
Stargazers can expect the moon to look around 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than it does when the moon is at its furthest point from Earth.
According to NASA, the best time to see the sturgeon supermoon was actually this morning, August 20 at 4.26am AEST. However, you will still be able to get a beautiful view of the supermoon tonight.
What is a supermoon?
A supermoon is a celestial event where the moon appears bigger in the sky. It is not actually the moon growing in size, it only appears larger because it is situated closer to Earth.
The reason super moons occur is because the moon’s orbit with Earth isn’t a circle, but instead an oblong shape. This means that when a full or new moon occurs on a closer part of its swing, it will appear larger.
What is a Sturgeon supermoon?
All of the full moons throughout the year have different names, which can be traced back to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a US-published book from 1792. Each month of the year has a different name for a supermoon. The August name of a supermoon is a Sturgeon supermoon. Here’s the list of each months supermoon name:
- January: Wolf Moon
- February: Snow Moon
- March: Worm Moon
- April: Pink Moon
- May: Flower Moon
- June: Strawberry Moon
- July: Buck Moon
- August: Sturgeon Moon
- September: Harvest Moon
- October: Hunter’s Moon
- November: Beaver Moon
- December: Cold Moon
How rare are supermoons?
Supermoons occur around 3 to 4 times every year. The exciting part of this supermoon is that is the first one for 2024. For supermoons, once one occurs, the other 2-3 will happen quite quickly afterwards.
According to the BBC’s Sky at Night, the next ones will occur on:
- September 18
- October 17
- November 15
