FILE - A supermoon rises through clouds over the skyline of lower Manhattan, Aug. 1, 2023, as seen from West Orange, N.J. Stargazers are in for a double treat on Wednesday night, Aug. 30: a rare blue supermoon with Saturn peeking from behind. The cosmic curtain rises Wednesday night with the second full moon of August, the reason it’s considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
By Marcia Dunn
Stargazers are in for a double treat on Aug. 30: a rare blue supermoon with Saturn peeking from behind.
The cosmic curtain rises Wednesday night with the second full moon of the month, the reason it’s considered blue. It’s dubbed a supermoon because it’s closer to Earth than usual, appearing especially big and bright.
This will be the closest full moon of the year, just 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometers) or so away. That’s more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) closer than the Aug. 1 supermoon.
As a bonus, Saturn will be visible as a bright point 5 degrees to the upper right of the moon at sunset in the east-southeastern sky, according to NASA. The ringed planet will appear to circle clockwise around the moon as the night wears on.
If you missed the month’s first spectacle, better catch this one. There won’t be another blue supermoon until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.
Clouds spoiled Masi's attempt to livestream the supermoon rising earlier this month. He’s hoping for clearer skies this time so he can capture the blue supermoon shining above St. Peter’s Basilica at the Vatican.
Weather permitting, observers don’t need binoculars or telescopes — “just their own eyes." said Masi.
“I’m always excited to admire the beauty of the night sky,” he said, especially when it features a blue supermoon.
The first supermoon of 2023 was in July. The fourth and last will be in September.
Jill and Carlo discuss the pending approval for Pfizer's vaccine for kids, the state of anti-Semitism three years after Tree of Life, potential criminal charges in the 'Rust' prop gun shooting and more.
Amalgamated Bank is the first U.S. bank to publish science-based targets to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. The bank says it will reach this goal through how it engages with customers and how it finances projects. Amalgamated Bank Chief Sustainability Officer Ivan Frishberg joined Cheddar Climate to provide more details about the bank's ambitious climate goals.
COP26 been dealt a blow as Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose countries are responsible for a third of the world's annual greenhouse gas emissions, will not be in attendance. Bertrand Piccard, Chairman and Founder of the Solar Impulse Foundation, joins Cheddar Climate, where he discusses what he expects to see when the summit commences in Glasgow.
John Nosta, WHO Technology Expert, joins Cheddar News to discuss evolving technology in the healthcare industry and the role 5G is playing in advancing healthcare delivery.
According to the latest report from the UN, several countries around the world are "nowhere near" towards their goal of limiting gas emissions. This report comes ahead of the COP26 which is slated to take place in the month of November in Scotland. Senior Advisor at CDP Paula Diperna, joined Cheddar to discuss what the report highlights and what this tells us about the future plans of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Powerful weather systems over California have caused record amounts of rainfall in the state, including over wildfire-scorched lands since triggering massive landslides.
The FDA meets today on whether or not vaccines for children ages 5-11 can potentially become available to the public. Cheddar News was joined by Dr. Richard Besser, President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former Acting Director of the CDC to discuss what could come next for these vaccines.
Dan DePodwin, Director of Forecasting Operations at AccuWeather, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to talk about the extreme weather across the country, including damaging rains in the drought-stricken western U.S. and an incoming Nor'easter that's likely to cause flooding and power outages along the Atlantic coast.
Jill and Carlo cover the news out of Facebook's latest earnings, Tesla's monumental day, Dave Chappelle addresses controversy and the tragedy of the climate emergency.
The UN's World Meteorological Organization reported that carbon dioxide in the atmosphere hit record levels in 2020, despite coronavirus-related lockdowns. With the COP26 international meeting on climate change less than a week away, Risk and behavioral scientist Dr. Sweta Chakraborty joined Cheddar to break down the "code red for humanity" the report represents and what actual commitments must be made to prevent significant global temperature increases.
