A supermoon – a moon that appears larger and brighter than a regular full moon – will be visible from Sunday night into the early hours of Wednesday morning.
A supermoon occurs when the moon is full and reaches perigee—that is, the part of its monthly orbit that is closest to Earth.
The moon will be officially full at 2:26 p.m. EDT Monday afternoon (of course, viewers will be able to see it better after dark), and according to NASA, it will appear full or nearly full Sunday through Wednesday morning.
This is the first supermoon of the year; there will be three more, in September, October and November.
A supermoon “doesn’t look much different to the human eye,” warns Ken Spencer, president of the Astronomical Society of Long Island. It becomes clearer when you compare photos taken at the moon’s perigee and apogee – when it is farthest from Earth.
For the best effect, viewers should find a spot with “a nice eastern horizon and watch the rising moon,” Spencer suggested, as the moon generally looks larger when it is closest to the horizon. “It’s even more impressive.” Using binoculars, Spencer added, “makes the scene even more sublime.”
The moon will rise shortly after 8 p.m. at 10 degrees southeast. “On the beaches of the south shore of Long Island, that means you’ll be able to see the moon rising from the Atlantic,” Spencer noted.
Long Island residents can see the supermoon anywhere there is a clear view of the sky, as long as there are few or no clouds. You don’t necessarily have to find a spot away from streetlights. “With the moon, you don’t have to worry about light pollution,” Spencer said. “The moon is so bright.”
This week’s supermoon will also be a blue moon: the third of four full moons this season. (The origin of the term “blue moon” is unclear, but it does not mean that the moon appears blue.) There is usually one full moon every month, but occasionally, when there is a full moon at the very beginning and very end of a month, there can be two in a month or four in a season. Blue moons occur approximately every 33 months – hence the expression “once in a blue moon.”
If anything, this blue moon will appear red, said Jason Cousins, president of the Amateur Observers’ Society of New York. Fine dust particles from wildfires in California and Canada have drifted into the region, giving the sun and moon a reddish tinge. Cousins said it was surprising that smoke from hundreds of miles away could alter the view of celestial objects hundreds of thousands or even millions of miles away. “But it shows us how we are all connected,” he said. “We are all global passengers.”
