August's Sturgeon Moon: When and where to watch supermoon clashing with Perseid meteor shower
WASHINGTON, DC: The Sturgeon Moon, the fourth and final supermoon of 2022, will occur on August 11. And it will coincide with the near peak of the Perseid meteor shower, which has been ongoing since July 14 and will peak on August 13, according to NASA.
Supermoons occur when a new or full moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit, as per NASA. The moon orbits Earth in an ellipse. The farthest point is called the apogee which is about 253,000 miles from Earth on average and the closest point is called the perigee, which is about 226,000 miles from Earth. And when a full moon comes at perigee, it is comparatively brighter and larger than a regular full moon, and that is where one discovers a supermoon. The supermoon in August called the Sturgeon Moon, which is also the final supermoon of 2022, will be visible during the Perseid meteor shower, considered to be "the best meteor shower of the year."
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When and where to watch Sturgeon supermoon?
Sturgeon supermoon, which is named after the sturgeon fish as it is a popular time for sturgeon to be caught in the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain, is expected to reach its peak at around 9.35 pm EDT on August 11, 2022, for those in North America. Just look for the bright, and round moon in the east during sunset on the specified date. In Europe, it will occur on August 12 at 1:36 am GMT, as per Screenrant.
The moon will appear full for about three days and the planet Saturn will appear near the moon. Saturn will be near its brightest for the year. As reported earlier, the moon will appear close to Saturn, passing within just under four degrees of the planet. Saturn and the moon will reach a maximum altitude of about 33 degrees by 1:15 am on August 12.
As per NBC, Sturgeon supermoon will be 224,569.1 miles from Earth, while July's was 222,089.3 miles from Earth. The report also states that the Earth will fly between Saturn and the sun on August 14 which will make Saturn look like a large star on August 11.
As per the Screenrant report, generally, observers can see 50 to 75 meteors per hour during the shower’s peak, however, in 2022, they can only expect to see 10 to 20 meteors per hour. If one misses this opportunity to witness the phenomena, the next supermoon will occur in 2023 on July 3, then on August 1 and 31, and on September 29.