Blue supermoon to be visible in UAE skies for two more nights this week

Visibility has peaked but stargazers can still enjoy the lunar phenomenon

A blue or sturgeon supermoon appears above Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi. Chris Whiteoak / The National

The supermoon rises over in Dubai. AP

The supermoon rises over the flare stacks of an oil field near the southern port city of Basra in Iraq. AFP

A man takes a photo of the supermoon as it rises over the lighthouses at Kalk Bay Harbour in Cape Town, South Africa. Reuters

The first supermoon of the year rises next to the Marina Bay Sands Hotel in Singapore. Reuters

The supermoon is seen next to the 123-storey Lotte World Tower in Seoul, South Korea. Reuters

The buildings of the financial district of Lujiazui in Shanghai are illuminated by the rising supermoon. AFP

The supermoon seen from a residential building in Beijing, China. AP

The supermoon over the Zabarwan hills in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, an Indian-administered territory. Reuters

The supermoon shines behind the Rande bridge in Vigo, Spain. EPA

The blue supermoon that illuminated UAE skies on Monday evening will be visible for another two nights.

The blue – or sturgeon – supermoon, when the full moon appears larger and brighter because of its proximity to Earth, peaked on Monday but is also due to be visible on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The National's Chris Whiteoak photographed the shimmering Moon rising above the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi on Monday.

The Moon, while appearing bigger and brighter, does not typically have a blue hue during the lunar event.

“Speculations on the origin of the term include an old English phrase that means 'betrayer moon' (because it led to mistakes in setting the dates for Lent and Easter),” said Nasa.

This full moon is also called the sturgeon supermoon, named after fish that were traditionally abundant in the Great Lakes, in the east-central US, at this time of year.

Native American names for full moons became widely used after the Maine Farmers’ Almanac began publishing them in the 1930s.

Others include red moon, corn or green corn moon, barley moon, herb moon, grain moon and dog moon.

There are two types of blue moons: a monthly and a seasonal blue moon.

What is a seasonal blue moon?

The blue moon visible in the UAE this week is what is known as a seasonal blue moon.

This refers to the third blue moon in an astronomical season when there are four full moons.

Each season usually has three full moons. On the rare occasion when there are four, the third in that sequence is called a blue moon.

What is a monthly blue moon?

Monthly blue moons occur because the lunar cycle does not directly align with the Gregorian calendar.

While there are either 30 or 31 days every month (apart from February), there are 29.5 days in a lunar cycle.

This means that we sometimes get a 13th full moon in a year. If this happens, the second full moon in a month is called a monthly blue moon.

This is where the phrase “once in a blue moon” originates from, used to describe a rare event.

What about a supermoon?

About 25 per cent of full moons are supermoons, but only three per cent of full moons are blue moons, according to Nasa.

The time between super blue moons is quite irregular, and can be as much as 20 years, but the average is 10 years.

The next super blue moons are expected to occur in a pair, in January and March 2037.