Stargazing 2024: Solar eclipse, supermoons and meteor showers
The most spectacular celestial events of 2024, such as eclipses and meteor showers, will be visible to the naked eye – if you know when and where to observe them.
Be sure to look up at the sky next week and pay special attention to the moon. It is special this month.
It’s a supermoon.
It is a seasonal blue moon.
It is the first full moon in August, the Sturgeon Moon.
According to NASA, it will appear full for several days, from Sunday morning through early Wednesday morning, August 18, and into August 21.
When is the next full moon in 2024?
The next full moon is on August 19th at 2:26 p.m. EDT.
➤ NASA’s interactive map for observing the moon every day of the year
When are there still full moons this year?
Space.com has provided the dates for full moons for the rest of 2024: (all times Eastern Time)
- September 17: Harvest Moon, 10:34 p.m.
- Oct. 17: Hunter’s Moon, 7:26 a.m.
- Nov. 15: Beaver Moon, 4:29 p.m
- Dec. 15: Cold Moon, 4:02 am
What is a supermoon?
A supermoon is a full moon that comes closest to Earth. According to NASA, these are the largest and brightest full moons of the year.
August’s supermoon will be the first of four consecutive supermoons in 2024, with “the full moons in September and October virtually tied for the closest moons to the moon of the year,” NASA said.
When will the next supermoons appear?
Earthsky.org said there will be supermoons throughout the rest of 2024:
- August 19: The Moon will be 361,969 kilometers from Earth.
- September 18: The Moon will be 357,485 kilometers from Earth.
- October 17. This will be the closest supermoon to us in 2024. The moon will be 357,363 kilometers from Earth, just surpassing September’s supermoon.
- November 15: 361,866 kilometers from Earth.
What is a blue moon?
According to NASA, there are two types of blue moons: monthly and seasonal.
A monthly blue moon occurs when there are two full moons in a calendar month. The second full moon in a month is a blue moon.
A seasonal blue moon occurs when there are four full moons in an astronomical season, instead of the usual three. In this case, the third full moon of the four is called a seasonal blue moon.
This type of blue moon is rare.
When will the next blue moons appear?
There is a blue moon approximately every 2.7 years.
A seasonal blue moon occurs approximately every 2.5 years.
The last seasonal blue moon was in August 2021 and the next one will not occur until May 20, 2027.
The next monthly blue moon will occur on May 31, 2026, according to the time and date.
How often is a supermoon also a blue moon?
The interval between super blue moons is quite irregular—it can be up to 20 years—but according to NASA, the average is 10 years.
The next super blue moons will occur in January and March 2037.
Partial lunar eclipse in September 2024
According to TimeandDate.com, a partial lunar eclipse will be visible on September 17 and 18 over North America, Europe, much of Asia, Africa, South America, the Pacific, Atlantic, Indian Ocean, Arctic and Antarctica.
It starts on September 17th at 8:41 p.m. EDT and ends on September 18th at 12:47 a.m. EDT.
Moon Trivia: What is a Black Moon?
Occasionally, there is no full moon at all in February. This phenomenon is called a “black moon,” according to Time and Date.
