Two-time appearance of Supermoon in August won’t reoccur until 2037

The year 2018 was the last time supermoons appeared to earth’s population.

Skywatchers in Qatar and around the world will witness the supermoon one two occasions in August as part of a rare phenomena that will occur again 14 years later in 2037, the Qatar Calendar House (QCH) announced on Sunday.

The first supermoon will light up Qatar’s skies on Tuesday 1 August starting from 6:26 pm before it appears again on 31 August, the Gulf state’s news agency (QNA) reported, citing the QCH.

The QCH explained that the moon will appear 14% larger than its usual size and 30% more luminous to the naked eye due to its proximity to the earth—357,530 kilometres from the centre of the planet.

Meanwhile, the second supermoon’s distance from the earth will measure around 357,344 kilometres, even closer in comparison to the previous sighting, the Associated Press (AP) reported on Saturday.

“Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset. And it happens twice in August,” Fred Espenak, retired NASA astrophysicist, told the AP.

According to the news agency, the year 2018 was the last time two full supermoons appeared to the earth’s population. Italian astronomer, Gianluca Masi, told the AP that the phenomena will occur again in 2037.

“The supermoon offers us a great opportunity to look up and discover the sky,” Masi said.

The first supermoon of 2023 appeared in July and the last is anticipated to appear in September. However, August’s supermoons will be the closest to the planet.

Several tools can help better view the supermoons, including binoculars or telescopes, though the sky must be clear to improve visibility.