The former was actually a Pink Moon (cue Nick Drake), while the latter bore the impressive title Super Flower Blood Moon. Once in the early morning of May 26, when the Moon reached its perigee at 4:47 a.m.Once on the night of April 26, when the Moon reached its perigee at 11:31 p.m.This year, Supermoons have shone above us twice before: Anadolu Agency/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images How many Supermoons have there been in 2021? Not a bad view of the May 26 Supermoon, taken in Turkey. We get at least one Supermoon a year, and lunar eclipses come around once every couple of years. While the phenomenon is wondrous to behold, it’s not all that uncommon. The next lunar eclipse will occur in May 2022. That is because the Earth’s atmosphere refracted the Sun’s light toward the shadowed Moon, and poured longer red wavelengths from the visible spectrum onto the milky surface, turning it scarlet. May 2021’s Full Moon appeared red in color. The mitigating Earth blocks the Sun from casting its light onto the Moon, so it sits in darkness for anywhere from a few minutes to hours. ![]() That very thing, in fact, occurred just last month! May’s Super Flower Blood Moon resulted from a Full Moon at the perigee occurring during a lunar eclipse, which is the moment in space and time when the Earth sits directly aligned between the Sun and Moon. Can a Supermoon and a lunar eclipse happen on the same day? When our satellite reaches the fullest phase while at the perigee, the Supermoon appears in all its glory. (You may already know that the occasional second Full Moon in a calendar month is known as a Blue Moon.)ĭuring its journey, the Moon grows and shrinks through phases, swelling from a toenail clipping-like sliver to a sumptuous orb and back down again. The Moon’s orbit around the Earth lasts 27 days, seven hours, and 43 minutes, hence about one Full Moon per month. The year 2021 had three consecutive Supermoons in April, May, and June. When the Full Moon is less than 226,830 miles away from Earth, its nearness to our planet makes our satellite appear 7 percent larger and 15 percent brighter than usual to the naked eye. On the other hand, the apogee - the point in the Moon’s orbit that is farthest from us - is 252,595 away, and yields a “Micromoon.” The perigee is about 226,000 miles from Earth. You were likely looking at not just any Full Moon, but a Supermoon.Ī Supermoon occurs when the Full Moon coincides with the moment in the Moon’s orbit when it is at the closest point to Earth - this point is called the perigee. Maybe you’ve looked up at a particularly large Full Moon and this song immediately began in your head. In advance of 2021’s final Supermoon and in anticipation of the Supermoons of 2022, here are five essential data points that could change your perspective on this celestial event for good, as well as the dates and times of the next Supermoons to look out for. Yet Supermoons are not merely a swollen variation on a regular Full Moon in fact, they are the result of the Earth and the Moon’s gravitational relationship with one another, as the Moon orbits the Earth. At these times, the Moon becomes much harder for us Earthlings to ignore. ![]() But there are Full Moons, and then there are Supermoons.Įvery so often, the Moon seems to transform into a huge, glowing version of itself - a Supermoon. When the Moon is full and the sky is clear, it’s hard to miss as long as you’re looking up. in astrophysics to bask in the pearlescent light of the Moon.
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