Super Blue Moon On Raksha Bandhan: When, Where And How To Watch Rare Celestial Event

When the moon - that is the full moon - is closest to Earth, it appears significantly large in the sky. Therefore it's called a supermoon. In August 2023, a rarity happened with not one but two supermoons visible.

Get ready to witness one of the largest and brightest moon of 2023! On August 30, stargazers will be in for a treat as the rare celestial event, a 'super blue moon', will be visible in the skies. When the moon - that is the full moon - is closest to Earth, it appears significantly large in the sky. Therefore it's called a supermoon. And the term 'blue' comes from the phrase 'once in a blue moon', which means rare. Since this supermoon is the second to occur in the month of August, after the first one on August 1, it's considered a 'rare' celestial event - something that's not likely to occur for several years now.

What Is A Supermoon?

A supermoon exceeds the disk size of an average-sized Moon by up to 8 per cent and the brightness of an average-sized full Moon by some 16 per cent, according to an IANS report. The last time two full supermoons appeared in the same month was in 2018 - and it won't happen again until 2037, an earlier report at Sky.com quoted Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project, as saying.

Super Blue Moon Timing: When To Watch

According to Space.com, the Super Blue Moon will rise at 7.10 pm EDT  (around 4.40 am IST on August 31, Thursday) and they quoted In-The-Sky.org for this. The blue moon will set on Thursday at around 6:46 am EDT (4.16 pm on Thursday). Space.com reports, "The exact moment of full moon is defined as the point at which it is 180 degrees from the sun, completely opposite our star in the sky over Earth.  For this year's Blue Moon, the moon will be opposite the sun at 9.36 pm EDT on Wednesday, August 30 (7:06 am IST on August 31), according to NASA. At this time, it will be in the constellation of Aquarius."

Super Blue Moon 2023: How To Watch

The supermoon is best visible at a time when natural light is less. While in the US, the phenomenon will take place in the evening, Indians are likely to have a good view too as the moon will rise early morning. But is the supermoon distincive? According to Space.com, "There isn't a huge difference in how the moon actually looks in the sky during a standard full moon and during a supermoon. The moon may appear slightly larger and brighter during a supermoon, but this will be imperceptible to anyone except those skywatchers who have significant experience observing the moon."

Planet Saturn To Be Visible Too!

According to NASA, "On the evening of Wednesday, August 30, 2023 (the night of the full Moon), as evening twilight ends (at 8:42 PM EDT), the rising Moon will be 8 degrees above the east-southeastern horizon with the planet Saturn 5 degrees to the upper right." According to reports, as the night wears on, the ringed planet will appear to circle clockwise around the moon. While one can look up to the sky and see Saturn, a good binocular is always helpful to make out the other distinguishable features of the planet.