In August, two supermoons will be visible at once

The Moon revolves around the Earth in a slightly elliptical orbit, which means that sometimes it is a little closer to our planet than usual. This is what is called a supermoon. At this position, the satellite appears 14% larger and 30% brighter than at its most distant point. In August 2023, there will be two such events at once.

The first supermoon will be visible on August 1st. On this day, the Moon will be at a distance of 357,530 km from the Earth. During the second supermoon, which will take place on August 30, the satellite will get even closer, reducing the distance from the planet to 357,344 km.

NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak notesthat during the supermoon, even with the help of the simplest binoculars and telescopes, you can observe it on the moon seas - dark plains formed by ancient volcanic lava flows - and rays emanating from lunar craters. The main thing is not to interfere with cloudiness.

Since the lunar phase lasts 29.5 days, two supermoons in the same month are quite rare. The last time this happened was in 2018, and according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope project, it won't happen again until 2037.

And the last supermoon this year will be on September 28-29 - the distance between the satellite and the Earth will be reduced to 361,552 km.