Moon puts on a show this August

The first supermoon was visible in India on the first day of the month on Tuesday.

Hyderabad: August marks a rare celestial event where two supermoons will be visible in a single month. This once-in-a-blue-moon event is bound to put stargazers on their feet as this will next happen only in August 2037.

The first supermoon was visible in India on the first day of the month on Tuesday. The second is set to make an appearance closer to the end of the month on August 30.

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The first moon called the sturgeon super moon, gets its name from the Native American tribes who found the giant sturgeons from the Great Lakes. It is also referred to as the flying-up moon, green corn moon, or the harvest moon.

According to NASA, the second moon will be visible for 30 minutes after sunset. On August 30, the moon will be even closer when compared to Tuesday at 357,244 km from the Earth.

It appears bigger than usual because it goes around the planet in a slightly elliptical orbit. Due to this supermoon phenomenon, the Earth’s natural satellite will appear up to 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter compared to its usual brightness.

While having two full moons in a single month is not that rare, having two supermoons in a single month, which makes a monthly blue moon, is a much rarer occurrence. The last time this happened was in 2018.