There were three days of blue supermoons in the middle of August 2024. Blue supermoons usually happen about once every ten years, but oddly, August 2023 had a blue supermoon too.

A blue moon can be several things. A monthly blue moon is two full moons in a single month. A seasonal blue moon is an extra moon in a season. It can also be moon that appears blue in color. Blue moons typically occur every two to three years because the moon cycle is 29.5 days and the average month is 30.4 days. This NASA article has details on the blue moon.

Sadly, a supermoon does not wear a cape a tights. The moon orbits the earth in a slight elliptical (egg) shape with the moon being closer to the earth during part of the orbit. When there is a full moon during the closest part of the orbit, it is called a supermoon because it appears larger. The difference is not really visible to the naked eye. (And put some clothes on that eye. We are decent people here!) The difference is only about 14% between the size at the far end of the orbit and the near end of the orbit. This NASA article has details on the supermoon.

These were taken with my phone, so the exposure is for day time. Using day time exposure lets you see some of the background coloring. I tried setting it to night mode, but it required me to hold the camera still for 5 seconds. It did not end well. I tried again with it braced on a surface, and the picture below was the result.

It looks like a nice moonlit picture of the water, except it is not. It is a nice moonlit picture of the condensation on the hood of my truck. It is far easier to brace the phone on the hood of my truck than a lake, but a tad bit less romantic.

I also took a picture with the DSLR because it is easier to control the exposure to get a good picture of the moon. The only problem is that the correct exposure for the moon leaves everything else too dark to see. One option is to use the flash set on low to add some light for the scenery. I just wanted the moon, so I left it dark. This is also cropped to a zoom of about 3x.