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Tomorrow Night's Moon: Special For 3 Reasons

The next full Moon, set to take place on 30 August, is going to be an extra special one for three reasons says NASA: it's a Supermoon, it's a Blue Moon and the planet Saturn will also appear near it.


The planet Saturn

“The next full Moon will be Wednesday night... appearing opposite the Sun. The planet Saturn, just a few days from its closest and brightest for the year, will appear near the Moon,” reads the statement. NASA details how the exoplanet will seem to travel clockwise around the Moon as the day goes by, a very rare view. The planet will first appear to the upper right of the Moon before seeming to migrate in a circular pattern.


But what are Supermoons and Blue Moons? According to the space agency, a supermoon “occurs when the Moon’s orbit is closest (perigee) to Earth at the same time the Moon is full.”


On 30 August, it's also a Blue Moon - which isn't actually blue. It's so called when there is a second full moon in a month. The first full moon in August lit up the night sky on the first day of the month and was also, coincidentally, a Supermoon.


The term blue moon originated from the 16th century expression “the Moon is blue,” meaning something that was impossible. For two years following the eruption of the Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia in 1883, people around the world reported seeing strangely coloured sunsets and a Moon that appeared blue. With this possible, but uncommon, occurrence, “once in a blue moon” came to mean rare rather than impossible.

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