Tonight, if sky conditions are favorable, you will see the Sturgeon Moon. This is the largest and brightest full moon (supermoon) in 2024 and is a ‘blue full moon’.
The name Sturgeon Moon is specifically given to the full moon in August, which is actually the same as the full moon in other months. This nickname comes from the giant sturgeon fish that are abundant in the Great Lake and Lake Champlain, United States (US).
For two Native American tribes, namely the Anishinaabe and Ojibwe, this related natural phenomenon is a critical time so that only sturgeon fish are a source of food and other needs.
And, that’s where the Sturgeon Moon got its nickname which was later used by world astronomy researchers.
The difference, according to LiveScience, is that the Sturgeon Moon coincides with the closest point of the Moon and Earth in their orbit (perigee) in August.
According to data from the Jakarta Plantarium, the distance between the Earth and the Moon at that time reached 360,196 km. Compare this with the farthest point (apogee) on August 9 which reached 405,297 km.
As a result, this full moon will be a supermoon, so the moon will look 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than at apogee.
