Here’s everything you need to know about tonight's super moon, August 12

Astronomy enthusiasts can look forward to many astronomical events in August 2022. In addition to the various meteor showers that will be scattered over the next few weeks, a supermoon is about to appear. The Sturgeon Super moon.

What is a supermoon?

Flower supermoon, strawberry supermoon, beaver supermoon. All of these events have extremely good-sounding names, admittedly, but why are they called 'super'?

According to Star Walk, the term was coined in 1979, following the publication of an article in the Dell Horoscope magazine. In this article, astrologer Richard Nolle defined a supermoon as 'A new or full moon that occurs when the Moon is at or near the closest to the Earth (at least 90% of the shortest Earth-Moon distance) in a given orbit.' This would make Earth's natural satellite brighter and visibly larger!

It is important to note that this term has no scientific basis: the real name for this phenomenon is perigee-syzygy. This does not prevent NASA from occasionally talking about 'super moons'. It's still much more intuitive and softer to the ear.

What about the sturgeon supermoon?

Like the strawberry supermoon, which got its name from the time when the flowers are harvested, the sturgeon supermoon has a historical origin. Native Americans are said to have nicknamed it because sturgeon were traditionally caught during this time of the summer.

This year, the supermoon will take place on the night of 12-13 August, at the same time as the Perseid meteor shower. Let's hope that this supermoon, which will peak at 2.36 am (GMT), will not spoil the spectacle of this other astronomical event.

This article was translated from Gentside FR.

Read more:

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⋙ What are meteor showers?

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