Skygazers will see a supermoon on Tuesday (August 1), the month's first. This will a chance for them to see a bigger and brighter moon due to its elliptical orbit around the Earth. Due to the 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. There will be another supermoon this month (on August 30), marking a rare phenomenon of blue moon. Tuesday's supermoon is expected to be visible in India too.
What is a supermoon?
According to American space agency NASA, the phenomenon occurs when the Moon's orbit is closest (known as perigee) to Earth at the same time the Moon is full.
On Tuesday, the moon will be 357,530 km away from Earth. On August 30, the moon will be even closer - 357,244 km - from the Earth.
These figures compare with a distance of about 405,696km when the moon is at its furthest point from Earth.
The term supermoon was coined in 1979, as per NASA.
Supermoon 2023: Date and time
According to space.com, the August 1 supermoon will rise around 9:30 pm EDT (12.01 am IST on August 2), and it sets at 5:11 am EDT (2.41 pm IST on August 2) on Wednesday.
Debiprosad Duari, former director of Kolkata's M P Birla Planetarium, said, "In Kolkata, the moon will rise at 6.17 pm. People will get an exciting opportunity to see the big, bright supermoon if the monsoon sky permits."
"It is exciting as this coincides with the time Chandrayaan 3 module will be injected into the lunar transfer trajectory," he added.
Why does the moon appear bigger?
The difference in size of the moon appears because it goes around the Earth in a slightly elliptical 27.3-day orbit, due to which it is sometimes closer to Earth and sometimes a little further away.
During the supermoon, it is closest to the Earth and looking towards it through buildings or trees, it appears bigger and brighter.
The moon also appears magnified when it rises or sets on the horizon during the supermoon.
How to watch the supermoon?
Skygazers do not need special equipment to witness the phenomenon. They just need an open and less polluted area with unobstructed view of the horizon.
They can witness the supermoon using their binoculars and telescope.
The last time two full supermoons appeared in the same month was in 2018 - and it won't happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi.
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