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.
Dr. Rick Bright is telling Congress that America faces the “darkest winter in modern history” unless its leaders act decisively to prevent a rebound of the coronavirus.
With grim images of coronavirus frontline workers splashing across screens, the founder of the virtual support group Lyf decided to come up with new ways of helping those struggling during the pandemic.
Josh Morrison, the co-founder of 1 Day Sooner, discussed asking volunteers to sign up for human challenge trials that will expose them to the virus in an effort to study the disease and develop a cure.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that the state is now investigating about 100 cases of the Kawasaki disease-like syndrome. Three children have died.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, is warning Congress and the nation of what he calls "really serious” consequences of suffering, death and deeper economic damage if state and local officials lift stay-at-home orders too quickly.
Dr. Beth Cameron, who is currently vice president of global biology programs at the Nuclear Threat Initiative, was previously a senior director in the White House pandemic office under the National Security Council.
Under 1% of Major League Baseball employees tested positive for antibodies to COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus. Results were based on 5,603 completed records from employees of 26 clubs.
From Wall Street to Silicon Valley, these are the top stories that moved markets and had investors, business leaders, and entrepreneurs talking this week on Cheddar.
Marketers use a linguistic science called ‘Sound Symbolism’ to aid in naming brands and products. The science focuses on the sounds of words and how they can affect how people perceive a word. Join Cheddar as we examine just how brand names come to be formed and if a brand by any other name is just as lucrative.
The Trump administration has shelved a set of detailed documents created by the nation’s top disease investigators meant to give step-by-step advice to local leaders deciding when and how to reopen public places during the still-raging pandemic.
