Rare black moon to rise this week: best time for stargazing
Kyiv • UNN
On August 23, a "black moon" will rise – a rare astronomical phenomenon that occurs once every 33 months. This creates ideal conditions for observing the Milky Way.
This Saturday, August 23, a unique astronomical phenomenon will occur – the "black moon" will rise, which happens only once every 33 months. And although it is impossible to see it with the naked eye, this event will create ideal conditions for observing the Milky Way in the night sky, writes UNN with reference to FastCompany.
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This celestial event, as the publication indicates, happens once every 33 months, and it will be an ideal night for stargazing, the publication adds.
"On Saturday, August 23, exactly at 2:06 AM ET, the black moon will rise," the publication writes.
What is a "black moon"
The Moon has its natural cycle, which lasts about 29.5 days and consists of several phases. A full moon occurs when the Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon, and its surface is fully illuminated. A new moon is the opposite phase, when the Moon is between the Sun and the Earth, and its side facing us remains in shadow, so it is invisible to observers.
As with a "blue moon" (the second full moon in a calendar month), there is a rare phenomenon called a "black moon". It has two variants:
- when two new moons occur within one month, and the second is called "black";
- when four new moons occur within one season, and the third of them is considered "black".
This is exactly what will be observed this Saturday, August 23. For the Northern Hemisphere, summer began on June 21, new moons have already occurred on June 25 and July 24, so the current one will be the third in the season. The fourth is expected on September 21 - on the eve of the autumn equinox.
Despite the fact that the black moon cannot be seen with the naked eye, this event makes the sky especially dark. That is why the night will be ideal for observing the Milky Way, which rises higher and becomes more noticeable in the summer months, the publication says.