Blue Supermoon to Light Up UAE Skies This Week

Blue Supermoon Lights Up UAE Skies This Week

Stargazers will be treated to a spectacular celestial display on Monday as the first supermoon of the year graces the night skies in the UAE and around the world.

The blue – or sturgeon – supermoon will be visible through Wednesday, appearing even bigger and brighter as the full moon is closer to Earth. It will be fully visible in the UAE sky at around 8pm.

Although the term was recorded as early as 1528, the moon does not actually turn blue. “Speculation about the origin of the term includes an Old English expression meaning ‘betrayal moon’ (because it caused errors in determining the dates of Lent and Easter),” NASA said.

However, the US space agency said there are rare situations where the moon appears blue. “Comparable to rare events such as dust particles in the atmosphere showing the moon to actually appear blue.”

This full moon is also called the Sturgeon Supermoon, named after the sturgeon fish that were traditionally abundant in the Great Lakes of the east-central US at this time of year.

The Maine Farmer’s Almanac began publishing Native American names for the full moon in the 1930s, and these became widely known and used. Others include red moon, grain or green grain moon, barley moon, plant moon, grain moon, and dog moon.

This comes shortly after the Perseids meteor shower lit up the night sky in the UAE and around the world.

Up to 100 meteors flew across the sky, appearing as fireballs as they traveled at extreme speeds.

After the blue supermoon, the next supermoon will appear on September 18 – weather permitting, always.