We just saw one of the year’s best meteor showers blitz by Earth with the Perseids—but as summer stargazing wanes into August, the night sky isn’t done, for the first supermoon of 2024 rises in just weeks.
This “supermoon,” the first of four this year, will not only be larger than average (they can appear up to 7 percent larger); it will be made even rarer by the fact that it will also be a blue moon. Traditionally, the August full moon has also been called a Sturgeon Moon. And this moon will overlap the planet Saturn, so there is plenty of moon talk to be had this summer.
On August 19, the moon will reach peak fullness at 2:16 p.m. EDT, which is mid-afternoon for Americans. We will have to wait till after sunrise to see an almost full moon that will look full to the human eye. Full moons are always directly opposite the sun (that is why they are full), so look directly east to find it rising the moment the sun sets in the west.
As to the titles supermoon, blue moon, and Sturgeon Moon, let’s unpack that: Supermoons appear larger because the moon’s orbit is not exactly circular but elliptical, so as it orbits, at certain points it will be nearer or farther away from Earth. When it is nearest and appears larger, it has reached its perigee, which will be on August 21—very close to the full moon, making it a supermoon by definition. As supermoons go, falling close to the perigee is close enough, because exactness is rarely possible.
Meanwhile, the moon’s point farthest away from Earth is the apogee, and when a full moon laps over that, it will be the supermoon’s opposite: the micromoon.
As for Sturgeon Moon, that is August’s full moon name. Traditional names stem from Colonial and Native American cultures. Sturgeon references when giant lake sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were readily caught as an important food staple for Native tribes in the region.
There you have it: a super blue sturgeon full moon.
But the moon has one last flourish in store before fading. On August 21, it will be next to the planet Saturn and then will run right over it, from certain viewpoints on Earth. When one celestial body passes in front of another, the event is known as an occult. While Latin America, Europe, and Africa may witness the moon occulting Saturn, Americans will see a close pass at 11 p.m. EDT, shortly after sunset, when the full sturgeon moon glances by slightly north of the ringed planet.
