Published: August 28, 2023 4:25 PM IST 
New Delhi: Here is some good news for stargazers to see something cool up in the sky. You will soon be able to see the moon and Saturn pair up by the end of August and it will be the biggest and brightest. A Blue Moon is set to light up the sky on August 30 and August 31. The planet Saturn, just a few days from its closest and brightest for the year, will appear near the Moon. “As evening twilight ends (at 8:42 PM) Saturn will be 5 degrees to the upper right of the Moon and will appear to swing clockwise around the Moon as the evening progresses,” according to NASA.
This full Moon will be the second full Moon in August, making it a Blue Moon by the newer definition introduced by Sky and Telescope magazine in 1946. By this definition, the full Moon in August 2024 will be the Blue Moon and this full Moon, as the last full Moon of summer, the NASA said. This full Moon corresponds with the Hindu festival Raksha Bandhan, also called Rakhi or Rakhi Purnima, celebrating the bond between brothers and sisters.
A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. Usually, months have only one full moon, but occasionally a second one sneaks in. Full moons are separated by 29 days, while most months are 30 or 31 days long; so it is possible to fit two full moons in a single month. This happens every two and a half years, on average.
A blue moon is special because it is the “extra” Moon in a season with four full moons. This usually only happens every two-and-a-half years. Since the 1940s, the term “blue moon” has also been used for the second full moon in a calendar month. This usually happens only every two-and-a-half years.
Meanwhile, a ‘supermoon’ appears to us as a larger-than-usual Moon in our night sky. A supermoon looks larger just because it’s a bit closer to Earth. “
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