                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                               2023 August 30

                            Full Moons of August
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Tumino

   Explanation: Near perigee, the closest point in its almost moonthly
   orbit, a Full Moon rose as the Sun set on August 1. Its brighter than
   average lunar disk was captured in this dramatic moonrise sequence over
   dense cloud banks along the eastern horizon from Ragusa, Sicily.
   Illuminating night skies around planet Earth it was the second
   supermoon of 2023. Yet again near perigee, the third supermoon of 2023
   will also shine on an August night. Rising as the Sun sets tonight this
   second Full Moon in August will be known to some as a Blue Moon, even
   though scattered sunlight gives the lunar disk a reddened hue. Defined
   as the second full moon in a calendar month, blue moons occur only once
   every 2 or 3 years. That's because lunar phases take 29.5 days, almost
   a calendar month, to go through a complete cycle. Tonight an August
   Blue Moon will find itself beside bright planet Saturn.

                    Tomorrow's picture: the Crew-7 nebula
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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