Super Harvest Moon lights up the night of September 8-9
Expect high tides to follow a supermoon
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The July, August and September extra-close full moons will accentuate the spring tide, giving rise to what’s called a perigean spring tide. If you live along an ocean coastline, watch for high tides caused by these full moons.
Will these high tides cause flooding? Probably not, unless a strong weather system accompanies the perigean spring tide. Still, keep an eye on the weather, because storms do have a large potential to accentuate perigean spring tides.
Dates of closest full supermoons in past and future years. More often than not, the one day of the year that the full moon and perigee align also brings about the year’s closest perigee (also called proxigee). Because the moon has recurring cycles, we can count on the full moon and perigee to come in concert in periods of about one year, one month and 18 days.
Therefore, the full moon and perigee realign in periods of about one year and 48 days. So we can figure the dates of the closest full moons in recent and future years as:
March 19, 2011
May 6, 2012
June 23, 2013
August 10, 2014
September 28, 2015
November 14, 2016
January 2, 2018.
There won’t be a perigee full moon in 2017 because the full moon and perigee won’t realign again (after November 14, 2016) until January 2, 2018.
By the way, some astronomers will call all the full moons listed above proxigee full moons.
But, like you, we’ll have fun just calling ‘em supermoons.
What most call a Blue Moon isn't blue in color. It's only Blue in name.
What does a full supermoon look like? Many astronomers say you can’t discern any difference with your eye between a supermoon and any ordinary full moon.
What is a Black Moon? We had never heard the term Black Moon until early 2014. It doesn’t come from astronomy, or skylore, either. Instead, according to David Harper, the term comes from Wiccan culture. It’s the name for the second of two new moons in a month. January 2014, for example, had two new moons. Does a Black Moon have to be a supermoon in order to be called Black? No. You can read more about Black Moons here.
The next Black Moon by the second-of-two-new-moons-in-one-calendar-month definition will occur on October 30, 2016. Sten Odenwald at astronomycafe.net lists some other names for the second new moon in a calendar month: Spinner Moon, Finder’s Moon, Secret Moon.
However, we’ve also come across another definition for Black Moon: the third of four new moons to occur in one season. In 2015, the new moon coming on February 18 will present the third of four new moons in between the December 2014 solstice and the March 2015 equinox. This February 18, 2015 Black Moon will also be the closest new moon supermoon of 2015, but, once again, a seasonal Black Moon doesn’t necessarily have to be a supermoon.
Bottom line: The term supermoon doesn’t come from astronomy. It comes from astrology, and the definition is so generous that there are 4 to 6 supermoons each year. This post explains what a supermoon is, how many occur in 2014, which moon is the most “super” of all the 2014 supermoons (August 10), and gives a list of upcoming full supermoons for the years ahead.
Largest-ever true-color photo of the night sky
Everything you need to know: The super Harvest Moon of 2014
Super Harvest Moon lights up the night of September 8-9
6, 5, 2
0, 2, 5
3, 1, 7
8, 3, 8
9, 3, 6
5, 2, 7
2, 0, 5
9, 4, 8
1, 1, 1
8, 9, 6
5, 7, 3
1, 9, 9
6, 9, 2
1, 4, 7
3, 4, 4
4, 9, 8
7, 3, 9
9, 5, 0
3, 0, 3
9, 6, 4
2, 3, 6
0, 5, 5
1, 8, 5
6, 2, 6
3, 0, 1