A Rare Super Blue Moon Occurs Next Week and Won't Be Visible Again for 14 Years—Here's How and When to See It

Supermoon summer is in full swing. The third of the season's four full moons—the Blue Moon—will occur on Wednesday, August 30 and Thursday August, 31. It is slated to be the largest and closest supermoon of the summer.

A full moon occurs when the moon hits the opposite side of Earth from the sun, according to EarthSky.org. A full supermoon happens when the full moon is at or near its closest point to Earth during its monthly orbit, causing the moon to look slightly larger and brighter than usual. The phenomenon is also referred to as a perigee.

How much bigger the moon looks depends on its exact distance from Earth, but it can be about 10 percent larger in size, Forbes reports. Astronomer Fred Espenak has created a table that provides the dates and distances for full supermoons until 2100. In 2023, there will be four full supermoons total.

The third supermoon of the season will be visible Wednesday, August 30 and Thursday, August 31. It's been given the moniker Blue Moon, which is the term for when a full moon occurs twice in a single month. The moon's cycle is 29.5 days, so just shy of the average length of a calendar month. According to NASA, the gap eventually results in a full moon happening at the beginning of a month with enough days remaining for another full cycle.

While supermoons aren't very rare (they typically happen three to four times a year) it is much less common to witness a supermoon that is also a blue moon. About 25 percent of all full moons are supermoons, but only 3 percent of full moons are blue moons, reports NASA. The time between super blue moons is about 10 years on average—so the next super blue moons will occur in January and March 2037.

The first supermoon of August was the Sturgeon Moon which lit up the night sky on Tuesday, August 1 (following July's Buck Moon). Many stargazers, including Martha, were particularly excited about the moon's unique orange glow.

Martha even took to social media to share her excitement about the celestial event. "Four am this morning. The super sturgeon moon woke me with its brilliance," she wrote in an Instagram post. "So beautiful!!! This is the year of super moons!!! Aug 1 is the real true full moon I will try to capture a better photo."

If you won't be able to catch this year's Blue Moon, you'll have one more opportunity to see a supermoon this season. The final supermoon of 2023, the Harvest Moon, will become full when it's 361,552 kilometers from Earth. It will appear on Thursday, September 28—but is best viewed in the East at moonrise on Friday, September 29.