(Washington) On Wednesday night, astronomy fans are pondering the last “super blue moon” before 2037, a rare phenomenon in which the Moon is both near-Earth and directly opposite the Sun.
Posted at 2:55 p.m.
The Moon moves an average distance of 384,400 kilometers from Earth and is the closest point in its elliptical orbit to Earth at about 363,000 kilometers. It therefore appears 14% larger.
At the same time, early Thursday (9:36 p.m. Eastern Time) the Moon is diametrically opposite the Sun, bringing out the headline “Super Blue Moon,” according to NASA, which is organizing a live broadcast of the phenomenon on YouTube overnight with Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, while the star will be below the horizon of Rome.
The term “blue moon” refers to a second full moon in a month, a phenomenon that occurs on average every two and a half years. But “super blue moons” only appear every 10 or 20 years, NASA said, citing the last as December 2009 and the next as March 2037.
In this phenomenon, the star is not actually blue. The expression “blue moon” is derived from the English “once in a blue moon” and describes a situation that occurs only very rarely.
If the “super blue moon” of 2023 is to excite budding astronomers and photographers, its gravitational pull combined with its proximity to Earth is causing higher tides that could encourage flooding along Florida’s Hurricane Idalia coasts.