Rare blue supermoon shines tonight, plus more full moons to catch this year
Tonight, a rare blue supermoon will light up the sky, and the celestial event won't take place again for another two years.
On average, a new full moon can be seen every month among the stars and each has its own unique nickname.
The different names come from "Native American, Colonial American or other traditional North American sources passed down through generations," according to the Farmer's Almanac.
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This year, the wolf moon, snow moon, worm moon, pink moon, flower moon, strawberry moon and buck moon have made appearances.
The sturgeon moon in August, the eighth full moon of the year, is especially rare this year since it's rising in the form of a blue supermoon.
Here are interesting and numerical facts about supermoons.
The blue supermoon, the first supermoon of the year, appeared at 2:25 PM EDT today, but those in North America will not be able to witness the sight until the sun has set, Fox Weather reported.
"It occurs when the moon is at perigee, its closest distance to the Earth, and it appears larger and brighter than usual," Fox Weather continued.
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The full moon will be in effect until Wednesday morning, according to NASA.
The term "blue moon" does not have anything to do with the actual color or hue of the moon, but it refers to the appearance of two full moons in one month, which will not take place again until May 2026, or, in this case, the third full moon to appear in a season.
"Monday's full moon will be the third of the summer with the first two happening on June 21 and July 21," Fox Weather reported.
The sturgeon moon is named after the sturgeon, a prehistoric fish that has reportedly "been traced back to around 136 million years ago," according to almanac.com.
The nickname refers to the time in which "this large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water like Lake Champlain is most readily caught," space.com reported.
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Last year, the sturgeon full moon was seen on Aug. 1 and a blue moon was seen on Aug. 30.
The harvest moon, which lights up the night sky in September, has at least three other nicknames including the barley moon, the corn moon, the mid-autumn and mooncake, Fox News Digital previously reported.
A European nickname for it is the fruit moon, since many fruits ripen when summer ends.
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The next harvest moon will appear on Sept. 17, 2024, at 10:34 p.m., according to the Farmer's Almanac.
The name hunter's moon was first identified in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1710, Fox News Digital previously reported.
The hunter's moon is also called the travel, dying grass, sanguine or blood moon.
It's typically known as the hunter's moon since leaves fall during October, the deer are fattened and it's time to hunt, according to the almanac.com.
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The next hunter's moon will appear on Oct. 17, 2024, at 7:26 a.m. It will also be the third supermoon of the year.
The beaver moon lunar eclipse was seen in the sky on Nov. 19, 2021 and was considered "the longest of the century," space.com reported at the time.
The beaver moon is reportedly named due to the moon signaling the time to set beaver traps before swamps freeze "to ensure a supply of warm winter furs," according to space.com.
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"Another interpretation suggests that the name beaver full moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now active in their preparation for winter," space.com continued, adding that it's "also called the frosty moon."
The next beaver moon and the final supermoon of 2024 will appear on Nov. 15, at 4:29 a.m.
The next time a cold moon, sometimes referred to as a frost moon, will appear on Christmas Day will be in 2034, space.com reported.
The cold moon, sometimes referred to as the "moon before Yule," last appeared one day after Christmas in 2023, unlike the aforementioned nickname, space.com noted.
"December’s full moon is most commonly known as the cold moon — a Mohawk name that conveys the frigid conditions of this time of year, when cold weather truly begins to grip us," according to almanac.com.
This year, a cold moon will appear on Dec. 15 at 4:02 a.m. ET, according to space.com.
Fox News Digital's Julia Musto contributed to this report.