Image: Supermoon (left) and an average full moon (right)Ī supermoon also means that new moon occurs at apogee – its furthest point from Earth – and so will look smaller than usual, a so called ‘minimoon’. This being said, the actual difference in size is difficult to notice unless you have a before and after. Being at full moon phase at perigee means the supermoon will be larger in the sky by about 5% and thus brighter than an ‘average’ full moon by about 12%. A supermoon is when the full moon occurs at or around perigee – the closest point to Earth in the Moon’s orbit. Interestingly, both full moons are ‘supermoons’. Blue moons are quite rare, happening only every 2-3 years, and this exceeding rarity motivates the saying “once in a blue moon” to describe something of great infrequence. The second full moon is called a ‘blue moon’ but of course be aware that this has nothing to do with its actual colour it will still look like every other full moon you’ve ever seen.
There are two full moons this month, on Aug 2 and Aug 31. The teapot asterism in Sagittarius is shown in green. Image: Scorpius and Sagittarius and the bright centre of the Milky Way. These constellations straddle the bright centre of the Milky Way galaxy as it looms overhead. By comparison, Sagittarius is a complete mess of a constellation, but the teapot asterism is reasonably easy to spot. Scorpius is easily spotted, with bright red Antares marking the heart of the Scorpion and the distinctive hook shape pattern of stars marking the tail standing out easily from background stars. Sagittarius and Scorpius dominate the night sky this month.
Sunrise is getting earlier and sunset is getting later, with Aug 31 having about 27 minutes more daylight than Aug 1. There will still be plenty of wet weather, but we should start to see more cold, clear nights.
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