There will be two supermoons visible in Hong Kong in August. The first will be on August 2. The second one on August 31 will be the largest full moon of 2023, as well as a Super Blue Moon.
What is a supermoon?
The term supermoon is used to describe when the moon’s orbit is closet to the earth (known as the perigee) at the same time that it is full. During this time, the moon will appear brighter and larger than a regular full moon.
On August 2, the full moon will be approximately 357,311 km away from the Earth. The August 31 full moon will be about 357,200 km away from the Earth. The average distance between the two celestial bodies is 384,000 km.
What is a blue moon?
There are two types of blue moons: seasonal and monthly. The August 31 supermoon will be a monthly blue moon (or Super Blue Moon) as it will be the second of two full moons in the same calendar month.
A monthly blue moon usually happens every 2-3 years. The next time we will see one will be in May 2026.
Header image credits: Louis Chan via Canva
