PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Keep an eye to the sky for a chance to see a rare super blue moon combination in the Pacific Northwest Wednesday night.
Keeping an eye on the night sky for a prolonged time is necessary to see this rare astronomical event as clouds will likely obscure views over Oregon and Washington.
A supermoon is a full moon that orbits the earth slightly closer than normal. That makes the moon appear slightly bigger and brighter. A blue moon is the second full moon in a given calendar month.
The last full moon seen in August was on Tuesday, August 1, 2023. Wednesday’s full moon will be the second full moon this month.
Wednesday night’s particular rare occurrence is due to the supermoon and blue moon status coinciding at the same time. This isn’t expected to happen again for another 14 years according to NASA. That’s when you can see not one, but two super blue moons in the months of January and March of 2037.
Unfortunately, this unique astronomical event might not be visible to those living west of the Cascades. A strong marine layer and inversion layer is preventing clouds from clearing out of the coast and Willamette Valley for much of this week. The benefits to this cloud layer is cooler temperatures and the chance of rain.
If you’re lucky enough to capture this rare astronomical event, be sure to share your photos and videos with us HERE.
A few brief breaks in the clouds are possible Wednesday night. The best view of the super, blue moon will be towards the southern sky just after sunset when the moon rise is at 8:11 p.m.
