FLORIDA – The rare blue moon that will appear in the sky over Florida on Monday, August 19 is not only special, but also the first of four consecutive supermoons.
The moon will be full on Monday at 2:26 p.m. EDT. You won’t be able to see it then, but it will appear slightly larger and brighter than normal when it rises in the east just after sunset. That’s at 8:03 p.m. Tampa time.
Of course, the weather has to play along. The National Weather Service’s forecast for Tampa for early next week – the moon will be full Sunday through Wednesday – calls for mostly clear skies Sunday night, partly cloudy Monday, mostly clear skies Tuesday and then partly cloudy Wednesday night.
What you need to know:
This is a seasonal blue moon
Monday’s full moon is a blue moon by traditional definition. Since the 1940s, the term “blue moon” has been used in common parlance to refer to the second full moon of a month. This is not the case here. Monday is a seasonal blue moon.
The seasonal blue moon is the third full moon in an astronomical season that features four full moons instead of the usual three, according to NASA.
The first documented use of the term in English dates back to 1528. There is speculation that the term was originally called “Betrayer Moon” because it led to errors in setting the dates for Lent and Easter.
“Or,” says NASA, “it could be a comparison with rare events, such as dust in the atmosphere actually making the moon appear blue.”
The moon will not appear blue unless something unexpected happens. It will look silvery to gray, as it always does.
Except …
It is the first of four supermoons
“Supermoon” is a term coined by astrologer Richard Nolle in 1979 to describe the phenomenon when the moon’s orbit is closest to Earth, or at perigee, at the same time as a full moon. As the term has become more popular, especially in the last few decades, the largest and brightest full moons of the year have become popular among skywatchers.
Supermoons don’t have the same intensity, and Monday’s moon won’t be the most impressive of the four supermoons coming our way. That’s because some lunar perigees come closer to Earth than others. At the “extreme perigee,” or closest, the moon can appear 14 percent larger and about 16 percent brighter.
The supermoons of September 18 and October 17 are “virtually tied for the closest of the year,” according to NASA. The last of the four supermoons is on November 15.
Monthly full moons have other names
Before terms like “supermoon” were used, full moons were given names to help Native American tribes and others track the seasonal changes that shaped the lives of their communities.
The full moon in August is often called the “Full Sturgeon Moon” because at this time of year sturgeon, a staple food of the Native Americans of this region, were easily caught in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.
It has several other names, including “rising moon,” which the Cree use to describe the time of year when young birds fledge, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
According to NASA, other names include “Corn Moon,” “Barley Moon,” “Herb Moon,” “Grain Moon,” and “Dog Moon.”
The full moon on September 18 will be a super Harvest Moon, and there will also be a partial lunar eclipse. The full moon on October 17 will be a super Hunter Moon, and will be the closest of the four moons to Earth—although, as NASA noted, the full moon on September 18 will also come close. And the full moon on November 15 will be the super Beaver Moon.
