Canada to witness rare blue moon this week

Canada to witness rare "blue" supermoon this week and it won't happen again until 2037

Cavan-Images/Shutterstock

Stargazers will be treated to a rare phenomenon this week when the biggest and brightest-looking supermoon of 2023 graces the night skies.

The moon will appear much larger and brighter than normal on Wednesday, August 30, marking the second such event of the month and earning the rare “blue” supermoon title reserved for an extra full moon within a subdivision of a year, like, for example, a single month.

This second full moon of August falls under the newer definition of blue moon, introduced by Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 and has nothing to do with the actual colour of the celestial body.

So, no. Despite the name, it won’t actually be blue.

The blue moon’s lack of colour doesn’t make it any less impressive. This double full moon is so rare that you’ll have to wait almost a decade and a half to witness it again.

On Wednesday night, the second supermoon of the month will orbit Earth at just 357,344 kilometres, almost 30,000 kilometres closer to the planet than the average distance of 384,400 kilometres.

At this reduced distance, the moon will look approximately 7% larger than a normal full moon. However, you might still need some hefty zoom capabilities to snap a decent shot of the large glowing orb.

You might also like:

The moon will appear opposite the sun (using Earth-based longitude) at exactly 9:36 pm Toronto time, offering the best viewing conditions — weather permitting.

Overcast skies hampered viewing of the full Sturgeon Moon, which peaked on Tuesday, August 1, though stargazers might have an easier time for this second full supermoon, as Wednesday night’s forecast calls for clear skies.

August’s blue supermoon will mark the only such event of the decade, and it will be another 14 years until two oversized full moons share a calendar month in 2037. The last double supermoon occurred in 2018.