Super Blue Moon, Saturn’s rings, and a new comet: Three rare celestial events in the UAE sky this week

Image credit: Getty Images

For stargazers and astronomers, the end of summer has a triple treat in store this week. The last week of August is crowded with celestial occurences for those residing in the Northern hemisphere.

Here’s what you should be looking out for:

A Super Blue Moon

This month will see a second full moon on August 31 making it a Blue Moon. A Blue Moon is not really blue in colour, it rather refers to the newer definition introduced by Sky and Telescope magazine in 1946 which considers the second full moon in a single calendar month as a Blue Moon.

The full moon on August 31 is also being referred to as a “Super Blue Moon” as it will be the biggest and brightest full moon of the year. Compared to a normal full moon, a “Super Blue Moon” is generally 16 per cent brighter and 14 per cent bigger. A “Super Blue Moon” will be visible on Wednesday for the first time since 2018.

It’s a bird! ? It’s a plane! ✈️ It’s a… supermoon! ? Don’t forget to check out the “super blue moon” on Aug. 31. It is called a super blue moon because it is a supermoon and the second full moon in a single calendar month. Learn more: https://t.co/cA0Y9UQS88 pic.twitter.com/RDOcsB6fIm

— NASA Space Place (@NASAspaceplace) August 28, 2023

According to the Weather Network, the upcoming full moon is also referred to as Perigee Blue Moon. It says, a Perigee Moon is the ‘superest’ of the supermoons. In 2023 what we are getting is a Perigee Moon combined with a Blue Moon making it a “Perigee Blue Moon”. The weather monitoring platform notes that the last Perigee Blue Moon occurred on July 30, 1996. The next one will not occur for another 95 years until December 2115.

We are hence guessing, the old English phrase “once in a blue moon” is derived from this celestial event due to its rare occurrence.

Saturn

Along with the Super Blue Moon, you can look up to the night sky to spot the planet Saturn which is exceptionally bright these days. Thanks to its current position in the solar system the ringed planet will be situated directly opposite from the sun with Earth in the middle. Around the same time, Saturn will reach perigee, its closest approach to Earth, according to In-The-Sky. The combination of these two celestial events means Saturn will appear at its biggest and brightest.

Witness Saturn’s main character moment ?

Saturn is directly opposite the Sun on August 26-27, which will make it look big and bright. Spot the yellowish “star” rising in the southeast at sunset, and traveling across the sky until sunrise: https://t.co/F6GdWPluZZ pic.twitter.com/aRT3C9Hub1

— NASA (@NASA) August 25, 2023

The planet should remain visible through February 2024.

Comet

Recently discovered by an amateur Japanese astronomer, comet Nishimura (C/2023 P1) will be visible using binoculars through the last week of August. Two weeks later, it will be visible to the naked eye around September 10 as it makes its closes approach to Earth two days later on September 12.

The comet is a brand new discovery and was made by Hideo Nishimura of Kakegawa City, as recently as August 12. Social media is abuzz with this new guest in the night sky and eyes will be trained upwards for those wanting to observe this hat-trick of celestial events.