After being treated to a rare black moon just a few months ago, another cosmic marvel is taking over our night sky. Tonight, our heavens Down Under are set to become the celestial host to 2022’s very last supermoon – and we sure as heck don’t want to miss this one.
Known as the ‘Sturgeon supermoon’, or also (perhaps more aptly) as the ‘August moon’, this lunar moment on August 11 and 12 will be super big and super bright, and it'll also be the very last supermoon earthlings will get to see until 2023.
Scientists have advised that for all Aussies on the East Coast, we look to the eastern horizon anytime after 4.20pm on Thursday, August 11, or after 5.30pm on August 12. On both dates, the moon will be at its peak at moonrise, so be sure to be looking up at sunset for a monumental moon moment that you won't want to miss.
Marked by its close proximity to Earth, supermoons look far bigger and more brilliant than usual due to its perigee: a term meaning the point of the moon’s closest approach to Earth during orbit, with this supermoon set to come within 360,000 kilometres of our planet. How good's that?
Also, for all those who enjoy a little space fact, the ‘sturgeon supermoon’ is said to have gotten its name from The Old Farmer’s Almanac, a reference book published in 1792 that coined this moon as a ‘sturgeon’ due to the masses of sturgeon fish that apparently appeared in North American Great Lakes at this exact time of year.
So, rug up, head outside and get ready to look up. There’s no time like the present.
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