August's Super Blue Moon

Last Chance Till 2037: The next Super Blue Moon, the Jerusalem Post informs us, will appear on Wednesday evening, August 30, 2023. 

Hey - that's tonight!

Next Super Blue Moon: Saturday, January 31, 2037

A “blue supermoon,” will rise in the night sky on Wednesday, August 30, LiveScience reported this week.

The expression, “once in a blue moon” has relevance in a real lunar phenomenon. Moreover, as the phrase suggests, they are indeed rare, and the lunar event to take place on Wednesday will not be seen again for some years.

The name, though, is somewhat misleading as the blue moon is not actually blue. The moon will actually appear to have an orange hue.

So what, Abq Jew hears you ask, is a blue moon?

There are, in fact, two varieties of blue moons, LiveScience explains. The first type, a “calendar blue moon” occurs when two full moons occur within the same month. As a full moon appears every 29.5 days, although rare, it necessarily occurs every two or three years.

The second type is a "seasonal blue moon," which describes a thirteenth full moon in a year as opposed to the typical 12.

And, Abq Jew hears you query, how about that super part?

A supermoon occurs when the full moon is close to its nearest point to Earth in its orbit. The moon's orbit of Earth is elliptical, so every month, it reaches a closest point (perigee) and farthest point (apogee). Moons that come within 90% of perigee in a given month qualify as supermoons.

August's second full moon is the third and closest of four supermoons in 2023. At 222,043 miles from Earth, it will be the biggest and brightest supermoon of 2023, though it will be only 115 miles closer than August 1's full moon, which was 222,158 miles away.

 FYI

The next full moon will be the Harvest Moon, on September 29. In addition to being one of the best-known full moons of the year, it's the last supermoon in 2023.

A Super Blue Moon! Celebrate we must! Here is the 1961 hit by The Marcels, which begins with the everlastingly eternal lyrics

Ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba ba
Ba ba ba ba ba ba dang a dang dang
Ding a dong ding

So when you go to or come home from shul or wherever tonight,
be sure to look up at the sky and enjoy. 

After all, this only comes around ... well, you know.