During the event, the moon appears much brighter and larger to people on Earth; the next supermoon on September 17 will also be visible in Israel.
Israelis got a glimpse of a rare celestial event on Monday night, August 19, when a blue supermoon appeared in the skies across the country – and in many other parts of the world.
The supermoon, a term coined in 1979 by American astrologer Richard Nolle, occurs when the moon reaches the closest point to Earth as it orbits around our planet.
Normally, the moon is located around 384,000km (238,000 miles) from Earth. But, on Monday night the moon was only 361,000km (224,000 miles) from Earth.
On supermoon nights, the moon appears much larger and brighter than normal to those on Earth. Supermoons usually occur several times a year.
The blue moon event, however, occurs once every two years on average. It’s even rarer for the two celestial phenomena to coincide.
“Blue moon” can refer to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects.
But it can also refer to either the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, or to a third full moon in a season containing four. In these cases, the moon will not physically appear blue, which was the case on Monday night.
The next three supermoons of this year will occur between September and November. Astronomers say the supermoon that is set to occur on September 17 will also be visible in Israel.
