What are Supermoons?

August’s Full Sturgeon Moon rises tonight. This will be the first of the two supermoons this month. The Full Sturgeon Moon rises on Tuesday, Aug. 1, and then the month closes out with the Full Blue Moon on Aug. 30.

Following the Sturgeon full moon, the illuminated lunar face will recede with the moon being described as “waning.” The waning moon will also rise and set an hour later each day. This leads to the next new moon on Wednesday, Aug. 16, 2023. So-called supermoons occur because the orbit of the moon around the Earth is not a perfect circle but is instead a flattened circle or an ellipse.

According to retired retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espanak, the moon will be 222,158 miles (357,530 km) from Earth. This is opposed to its average distance of around 238,000 miles (382,900 km) away. The perigee of the moon happens on Aug. 2 at 01:52 EDT (0552 GMT) as the Sturgeon moon is in full swing.

Excerpts from Space.com and here. For the full article, click the photo or the links cited in this article.

Editor’s Note: If you snap an image of the Full Sturgeon Moon and would like to share it with Space.com‘s readers, send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.

More information on Blue Moons : https://www.space.com/15455-blue-moon.html

For more information about space, moons and the solar system in general, visit www.nasa.gov

If you want to dig into moonology specifically, then be sure to visit https://www.fullmoonology.com

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Friday Jul 24 2026 - Scanner News - Panhandle Scanner News

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