The moon will still look huge Tuesday night. Here’s when to best see it in NC
Conditions should favor skywatchers Tuesday night who want another glimpse of the huge moon that will rise in the east.
Only a trained eye will notice that Tuesday night’s moon is a fraction smaller than Monday’s blue supermoon. It wasn’t blue, but this summer will have four full moons instead of three and the third one of the season is called a Blue Moon.
Monday night’s moon was a supermoon, meaning it looked brighter and appeared a little bigger than an average full moon. When it comes up on the horizon, a supermoon looks even larger because of an optical illusion.
It should look very similar Tuesday night.
What’s a supermoon?
NASA explains that a supermoon is a full moon that happens when the moon is within 90% of its closest approach to Earth.
At this point in its orbit, the moon is more in-our-face than usual and, the way it does when someone carrying a flashlight walks toward you, the light looks bigger and brighter as it gets closer.
Astronomers at Space.com say a supermoon can look up to 14% larger and up to 30% brighter than when the moon is at is most distant point from Earth.
NASA says Monday’s supermoon was the first of four consecutive supermoons this year, with the ones in September and October nearly tying for coming the closest to Earth of any full moons this year.
Does this full moon have other names?
Native American tribes assigned various names to different full moons, often associated with other natural events that happened around the same time. The August full moon may also be called the:
▪ Red Moon;
▪ Corn Moon;
▪ Green Corn Moon;
▪ Barley Moon;
▪ Herb Moon;
▪ Dog Moon;
▪ Sturgeon Moon.
Writer David Wolfe says the Cherokee call the August full moon the Fruit Moon.
What time will the moon rise?
According to the U.S. Naval Observatory, the moon will rise at 8:01 p.m. Tuesday and set at 7:34 a.m. Wednesday in Raleigh.
Will the supermoon be visible here?
The National Weather Service forecast says skies should be mostly clear Tuesday night in Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill, making for excellent visibility.
What’s the best chance of seeing the August blue supermoon?
Get to a place away from bright lights with a clear view toward the horizon and look east.
This story was originally published August 19, 2024 at 4:07 PM.
