Two rare supermoons will be observed in August: That will not happen until 2037

In August of this year, it will be possible to witness two rare phenomena – two supermoons. According to NASA astrophysicist Fred Espenak, the first supermoon will occur on August 1, and the second on August 31.

As Huffpost reports, two supermoons in the same month are quite rare, as a lunar phase lasts about 29.5 days. It will be a particularly attractive sight during the second supermoon expected on August 31. On this day, the Moon will reach the closest point of its orbit to the Earth, called perigee (located about 354,027 kilometers from our planet).

The last time two supermoons happened in the same month was in 2018, and experts say such an event won't happen again until 2037. This makes the upcoming phenomenon even more special and desirable for all astronomers and lovers of celestial observations.

A supermoon is an astronomical phenomenon that occurs when a full or new moon coincides with perigee (when the Moon and Earth are as close as possible to each other). Such an approach occurs due to the elliptical orbit of the Moon, in which it revolves around the Earth. Because of this happy coincidence, the Moon is relatively close to the Earth, and we can observe larger-than-usual dimensions of the lunar disk.