Rare double ‘Super Moon’ this month from Pickering to Bowmanville
Published July 31, 2023 at 8:44 am
Mother Nature will kick off August with a ‘Super Sturgeon Moon’ Tuesday and end the month with a bang with a super rare ‘Super Blue Moon’ on August 31.
Weather during the first week of August is expected to be sunny and relatively cool to start the week, with temperatures of just 22 (with a low of 13) Tuesday, with humid temperatures and a humidex above 30 C – and a spot of rain – appearing in the skies of Durham Region Thursday and Friday.
Long weekend temperatures are expected to be a comfortable 24 C and sunny.
To see tomorrow night’s full Super Sturgeon Moon, turn your eyes to the eastern horizon in the early evening to watch it rise. Although the moon officially reaches its ‘full’ phase at exactly 2:33 p.m. Tuesday, at a casual glance, it will appear full from tonight through Wednesday evening.
When the Moon in its elliptical orbit is farther away from Earth, it appears smaller and dimmer; when it’s closer to Earth, it appears bigger and brighter.
In 1979, astrologer Richard Nolle came up with a new term – Super Moons – to describe those full moons that are the biggest and brightest.
The difference in apparent size between a typical full moon and a super moon is small enough that it’s hard to really tell them apart. What is noticeable is the increased brightness of a super full moon; about 30 per cent brighter, in fact.
In 2023, there are four supermoons: July 2-3, August 1-2, August 30-31, and September 28-29.
