The moon orbits the Earth on its non-stopping cycle of 30 days which makes up a month of our calendar. All the lunar phases we sometimes don’t even realize, a full moon, a new moon, and so on; until an interesting sight comes along that shows us the true beauty of nature.
This year, the moon has shown us its magnificent beauty more than once. On August 1st, the full moon rose appearing brighter and bigger than usual considering how close it was to the Earth. It was a beautiful sight to see. I work just along the boardwalk of Lake Worth Beach and all my coworkers and I stepped outside our restaurant to watch the bright moon sit just atop the ocean. Then on August 30th, many of us were able to witness a beautiful super rare blue moon. I hope you caught a glimpse because the next blue moon won’t be until 2037. This moon was even closer to Earth than the one on the 1st, making it look even bigger. “I went to go look at it at the beach and it was beautiful,” says Delilah, a good friend of mine, “The ocean reflected its brightness in a way that I’ve never seen before. There were too many people there though.”
Although the blue moon was a wonderful sight to see, that’s not the most interesting thing about this supermoon. The blue moon doesn’t mean the moon literally looks blue; it’s when there are two supermoons in one month, or the third supermoon of the year. In this case, it’s both. The first supermoon of the year was nicknamed the ‘strawberry moon’ when it shone its bright light on June 3rd. The second one of the year was on August 1st, making it the first supermoon in August, then the blue moon on the 30th, making this special blue moon the second one in August and the third supermoon of the year, because we are expecting another marvelous sight of the moon.
Next month, on October 14th, we’re expecting our annual solar eclipse which has already been deemed the ‘ring of fire’. The moon won’t be as close to the Earth during this solar eclipse; making it seem a lot smaller when put against the sun, leaving an outer ring of beautiful orange sun seeping into the Earth. This will be the first ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse to interest us all since 2012. This solar eclipse will last just a little over five minutes, the longest you’ll be able to see in recent years. Here in West Palm, we’ll have the opportunity to catch a partial eclipse; just as it’s moving through its orbit.
The moon has given us many surprises this year so don’t miss out on the last lunar event of the year. Get your glasses, set up your lawn chair, and keep October 14th free to watch the beautiful upcoming ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse.
