During the night of August 31, inhabitants of Earth were treated to an extraordinary event, which could be described as the second consecutive occurrence of a "blue supermoon."
According to Euronews, this remarkable alignment of astrological phenomena holds minimal astronomical significance and is only discussed due to the incongruence between the widely used Gregorian calendar and lunar cycles.
A "supermoon" emerges when a full moon roughly coincides with perigee, the point in its orbit when the Moon is closest to Earth. Depending on the degree of this approximate alignment, there can be an average of 2-4 supermoons within a calendar year. These events always occur in succession. Both full moons in August this year can be categorized as supermoons when adopting a more precise criterion.
The next occurrence of a similar nature is anticipated in the year 2037.
A "blue moon" denotes a situation where there are 13 full moons in a calendar year instead of the typical 12, a phenomenon that transpires every 3-4 years. This definition takes two forms: either it marks the third full moon out of four in a singular season or designates the second full moon within a single month.
Therefore, both full moons occurring in August this year can be aptly referred to as "blue moons." It's important to note that this label has no correlation with the actual color of the observed Moon; its origin lies in the English expression "Once in a blue moon," akin to the phrase "Once in a while."
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