Explained | What is a supermoon?

The moon orbits the Earth in an ellipse. The farthest point on the moon from the Earth is known as the apogee and the closest point is known as the perigee. A supermoon occurs when a full moon is at the perigee position, which means it is the closest it can be to the Earth.

The term supermoon was first coined in 1979 by Richard Nolle, while the official name for this phenomenon is 'perigee-syzygy'. A supermoon is around 7 per cent larger and 16 per cent brighter than an average full moon.

Two supermoons are said to occur in August 2023. The first one, known as the Sturgeon Moon, was visible on August 1. It is named after the fish found in the Great Lakes in North America. The sturgeon fish is an important fish to Native Americans and is the oldest and largest species found in the lake. The moon will be visible till Thursday.

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The second one, believed to be a blue moon, will be visible at the end of the month, on August 30. The second full moon will be the closest moon to the Earth this year. There are a total of four supermoons this year, with the last one occurring in September.

A blue moon is used to refer to the second full moon of the month. The term is also used to describe the third full moon of four in an astrological season. While the idiom “Once in a blue moon” implies that the phenomenon is quite rare, the blue moon occurs once every two years. A super blue moon is, however, a rare occurrence and will not happen again for some time. The last time a super blue moon occurred was in December 2009.

It is very rare for two supermoons to occur in the same month. The next time this is said to happen is in the 2030s.