The cosmos is offering up a double feature in August: a pair of supermoons culminating in a rare blue moon.
Catch the first show Tuesday evening as the full moon rises in the southeast, appearing slightly brighter and bigger than normal. That’s because it will be closer than usual, just 222,159 miles (357,530 kilometers) away, thus the supermoon label.
The moon will be even closer the night of Aug. 30 — a scant 222,043 miles (357,344 kilometers) distant. Because it’s the second full moon in the same month, it will be what's called a blue moon.
“Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset. And it happens twice in August,” said retired NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, dubbed Mr. Eclipse for his eclipse-chasing expertise.
The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.
Masi will provide a live webcast of Tuesday evening’s supermoon, as it rises over the Coliseum in Rome.
“My plans are to capture the beauty of this ... hopefully bringing the emotion of the show to our viewers,” Masi said in an email.
“The supermoon offers us a great opportunity to look up and discover the sky,” he added.
This year’s first supermoon was in July. The fourth and last will be in September. The two in August will be closer than either of those.
Provided clear skies, binoculars or backyard telescopes can enhance the experience, Espenak said, revealing such features as lunar maria — the dark plains formed by ancient volcanic lava flows — and rays emanating from lunar craters.
According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the August full moon is traditionally known as the sturgeon moon. That’s because of the abundance of that fish in the Great Lakes in August, hundreds of years ago.
Thrive+ binds to the same brain receptors as alcohol to combat the negative effects of drinking, says CEO Brooks Powell, who started developing the pills during his sophomore year at Princeton.
The Republican reiterated his cautious approach to legalization, despite momentum for more liberalization in a state with some of the most tolerant cannabis laws in the country.
A data breach on MyHeritage impacted more than 90 million users. David Nicholson, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Living DNA breaks down what precautions companies take in order to protect your information.
DNA testing service MyHeritage reported a data breach that gave hackers access to email addresses and passwords of over 92 million users. While genetic information wasn't exposed, Rob Verger, Assistant Tech Editor at Popular Science, says the incident serves as a reminder that "almost anything is hackable."
The dental start-up, which sells custom teeth aligners online, opened its first brick-and-mortar store to reach more consumers, says co-founder and CEO Nick Greenfield.
The company, which makes a FitBit-style fertility sensor, announced it will use the fresh capital to fill gaps in the market. "Women's health and women's health research has been underfunded for the last decade," says co-founder Lea von Bidder.
More than 9 million tons of unrecycled plastic waste ends up in the ocean every year, according to Jenna Jambeck, an associate professor at the University of Georgia and a National Georgraphic explorer. In its June issue, the magazine is trying to shine a light on the serious problem with a "Planet or Plastic?" initiative.
Stocks kick off the week with a rally after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the prospect of a trade war was "on hold" following an agreement to suspend tariff threats. Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveils details of the souped-up Model 3. President Trump is going after the FBI. Fortnite is launching on Android phones this summer.
Mike Massimino, the former astronaut who became the first man to tweet from space during one of his two space flights, says companies like SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin are "the best hope we have for a thriving space program."
The Falcon 9 'Block 5', which theoretically can be reused 100 times without much maintenance, took off Friday afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The rocket carried a communications satellite into orbit for Bangladesh and then successfully landed back on a platform in the Atlantic.
