Did you catch the rare blue supermoon illuminating the night sky?
Astronomy lovers in South Africa and worldwide were thrilled by the sight of a rare blue supermoon on Monday night.
On Monday night, astronomy enthusiasts in South Africa and across the globe were delighted by the appearance of a rare blue supermoon.
Supermoons occur when the Moon passes through its perigee, or the point that takes it closest to Earth during its elliptical orbit.
This makes it look about 14% bigger and 30% brighter compared to when it is at its furthest point, and a touch brighter.
Blue supermoon not actually blue in colour
Despite the description, it won’t actually be blue: the term “blue Moon” simply refers to when we see a full moon twice in a month.
This happens because lunar cycles are a bit shorter at 29.5 days than calendar months, which last 30 or 31 days, so it’s possible for one to happen at the start of a month and the other right at the end.
The origins of the English expression “once in a blue Moon,” today understood to mean something that is very rare, go back hundreds of years.
In Elizabethan times, “he would argue the Moon was blue” could be said about a person making outlandish or patently absurd claims.
It is possible, however, for the Moon to take on a blue hue in the right circumstances.
This can occur as a result of smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere scattering red wavelengths of life, such as following the eruption of Krakatoa in Indonesia in 1883.
Dust from the event “turned sunsets green and the Moon blue all around the world for the best part of two years,” according to Sky & Telescope magazine.