Rare super blue moon appears over British skies

author: FutureCar Staff    

On Wednesday evening, a rare super blue moon illuminated the skies over the UK. Contrary to expectations, the moon rose on Wednesday instead of Thursday night. The term "blue moon" does not refer to the moon's color, but rather signifies the occurrence of a second full moon within a calendar month. This phenomenon only happens once every two or three years. A super moon, on the other hand, is when the moon is full at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. The super blue moon combines these two phenomena into a single event.

According to Professor Don Pollacco, an astronomer from the University of Warwick, the moon's apparent size can be similar to that of the sun due to the flukes of nature. Despite being smaller, the moon appears larger because of its proximity to Earth. The moon's elliptical orbit around Earth gives rise to super moons when a full moon coincides with the moon's closest approach to Earth. As a result, the moon can appear 10-15% bigger and 25-30% brighter than a normal full moon. The brightness of the moon allows it to be visible even in less than ideal lighting conditions.

Dr. Greg Brown, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, explains that August brings together two rare events in astronomy: a blue moon and a supermoon. However, the definitions of these events are not universally agreed upon. Generally, a blue moon is defined as the second full moon in a calendar month. A supermoon, on the other hand, occurs when the moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. The difference in size and brightness between a supermoon and a regular full moon is subtle and may not be easily noticeable to the naked eye.

FutureCar Staff