The Year’s First Big & Bright Full Supermoon Will Illuminate NYC Skies This Month
Mark your calendars for August 19th because a full supermoon—the first of the year—will illuminate NYC skies in a grand display of celestial wonder. It will reach peak illumination at 2:26pm, but you’re best bet at visibility will be after sunset. This first full supermoon of 2024 will kick off another three consecutive full supermoons to follow in September, October and November.
So what’s so different about a supermoon versus a full moon? Well for one, a supermoon can appear anywhere up to 30% brighter and 14% larger than a regular full moon, according to Space.com. This is because a supermoon occurs when it’s not only a full moon, but at the moon’s closest distance from Earth in its orbit, otherwise knows as its perigee. And though that sounds like a lot, the difference isn’t always noticeable to the naked eye.
August’s full supermoon will only be 224,917 miles from Earth. For context, the moon on average is about a 238,00 mile distance from Earth. And though that’s more than 10,000 miles closer than normal, August’s Sturgeon Moon wont be the closest full supermoon of the year. That will be in October, when the Hunter’s Moon is just 222,055 miles away from Earth.
Curious as to why the moon can sometimes be closer to the Earth in some month’s orbit than others? That’s because gravitational and/or tidal forces don’t allow the moon’s orbit to be a perfect circle, thus leading to a different range of distances between the moon and Earth each month.
The next full supermoon after August will be the Harvest Moon on September 17th. From there you can keep your eyes out for the remaining full supermoons of 2024 on October 17th and November 15th.
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