WYFF 4 reports that Get set for a rare blue micromoon this weekend — a blue moon that's also the most distant and smallest-looking full moon of the year.A bonus: The brilliant star Antares will photobomb Sunday's spectacle for a celestial three-for-one.Related video above: Why is Sunday's full moon a rare 'blue moon'?A blue moon occurs every two to three years when a second full moon squeezes into a single month.
May 1 saw this month's first full moon.Since the moon's orbit isn't a perfect circle, the upcoming full moon will be farther from Earth than usual at a distance of 252,360 miles (406,135 kilometers), making it seem a bit smaller and dimmer.
It's the opposite of a supermoon when a full moon comes closer to us than normal.
The most recent supermoon, for instance, was just 225,130 miles (362,312 kilometers) away.The Virtual Telescope Project's Gianluca Masi, who will provide a live webcast from Italy, said Sunday's micromoon will appear about 6% smaller and 10% dimmer than that of an average full moon — "differences that are subtle enough to likely go unnoticed by most observers."The scene will be especially thrilling south of the equator across the Pacific.For stargazers in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand, eastern Australia, parts o...
A light-year is almost 6 trillion miles (9.7 trillion kilometers).There won't be any disappearing act for those looking up elsewhere in the world, with Antares constantly visible alongside the full moon.And despite the name, this blue moon won't appear turquoise, sapphire or any other shade.
The term simply refers to the uncommon occurrence of two full moons in one month.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's Department of Science Education and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.