BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — If you look at the sky Wednesday, you might think something’s wrong. The moon seems off. And you’d be right. Alongside being a super moon is a blue moon. But to have these things come together in one night is a pretty rare occurrence.
Don't believe me? Let’s ask NASA
"The next time it’s going to happen is going to be 2037 and it hasn’t happened for a number of years now. So it’s not something that happens every year, every three years, every five years. It happens on a decadal time frame, " explains Dr. Noah Petro, Artemis III project scientist for NASA.
Just because the event occurs every once in a blue moon, that doesn't mean it’s actually going to be blue. The name signifies an occurrence that happens when you have two full moons within a one-month span. This is also the closest the moon will be to Earth while being a full moon - earning it the illustrious title of "super moon" - meaning it will appear about 15 percent larger than usual in the night sky.
"And about 30% brighter and that’s going to be where people notice a difference. That difference in size can be difficult to see if you’re not used to looking at the moon or photographing the moon," says Petro.
If you dig deep back to the day when you’re main concern was 'will I get a turn on the monkey bars' you might remember your second-grade teacher teaching you that the moon has the ability to affect tides.
“The important part when we’re looking at tides is what phase the moon is in. So there’s things called spring tides and there’s things called neap tides. Twice a month we have stronger tides across the globe," Vivian Rennie, a meteorologist for Scripps News in San Luis Obispo. "That's when we have full moons or completely new moons, so twice a month we have these larger tidal pulls and because the sun and the moon are working together."
For several groups across the world, full moons have a spiritual and cultural significance, but even if you don't have that connection to the moon, there’s a human connection to it for us all.
"You in Bakersfield will look up at the same moon that I'll look at," says Petro. "It's the same moon that my coworkers in Germany are looking at. It's the same moon that people all around the world look at."
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