- The moon reaches peak illumination at 9:36 p.m. EDT Thursday.
- The full moon will reduce the visibility of the Perseid meteors to about 10-20 per hour at most.
- On average, supermoons appear about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical full moon.
The next full moon will rise in the evening sky this Thursday, and it will be both a “sturgeon moon” and a “supermoon.”
The moon reaches peak illumination at 9:36 p.m. EDT Thursday, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
But, for once, the monthly celestial spectacle won’t be welcomed by all skywatchers this week, as the dazzling full moon unfortunately clashes with one of the most anticipated meteor showers of the year – the Perseid meteor shower, according to Space.com.
While most observers across North America would normally be able to see 50 or 60 meteors per hour during the Perseids, the full moon will reduce the visibility of the meteors to about 10-20 per hour at most, according to a statement from NASA.
MOON MAYHEM:Could the full moon ruin the ‘best meteor shower of the year’? The Perseids peak this week
Why is it called the sturgeon moon?
“August’s full moon was traditionally called the sturgeon moon because the giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this part of summer,” the Almanac said.
Sturgeon are a group of large fish that have been dubbed living fossils because they have remained almost unchanged for more than 100 million years, Newsweek said. Sturgeon were once found in great abundance, but their populations have declined greatly due to overfishing and habitat loss, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said.
Why is it also a ‘supermoon’?
When the moon’s orbit brings it closer to Earth than usual, the cosmic combo is called a supermoon.
When this happens, the moon can appear slightly bigger and brighter than normal.
“Different publications use slightly different thresholds for deciding when a full moon is close enough to the Earth to qualify as a supermoon,” NASA said. “Because the orbit of the moon is not a perfect circle, the moon is sometimes closer to the Earth than at other times during its orbit.”
On average, supermoons appear about 7% bigger and about 15% brighter than a typical full moon.
This will be the fourth and final supermoon of 2022.
Why do full moons have names?
The full moon names used by the Old Farmer’s Almanac come from a number of places, including Native American, Colonial American and European sources.
Traditionally, according to the Almanac, each full moon name was applied to the entire lunar month in which it occurred, not solely to the full moon.
You don’t need any equipment to see the full moon, but a pair of binoculars will give you an incredible view of the moon’s surface, Travel + Leisure said.
