Blue supermoon Jeddah: Where to see the first supermoon of 2024 in Saudi tonight

An extra-special celestial event is going to be visible in the Jeddah sky as a blue supermoon is expected on Monday evening (August 19).

This is the first supermoon of 2024. Best of all, the Jeddah Astronomy Society (JAS), confirmed it will be visible worldwide.

What is a blue supermoon?

Rather confusingly, there are two types of supermoon.

The first is a seasonal blue moon which describes the third full moon in a season which has four full moons in total.

And the second is the rarer monthly blue moon which is when two full moons occur in a single month and where the phrase “once in a blue moon” is derived from.

JAS director Majed Abu Zahra said that this seasonal blue moon occurs roughly once every 2.5 years.

What we’ll see from Monday is the seasonal blue moon. The next monthly blue supermoon will be on May 31, 2026.

The moon will appear larger and brighter to the naked eye as it occurs when the moon is within 90 per cent of its closest approach to earth, according to NASA.

The supermoon won’t actually appear blue, with the name thought to date back to the 1500s. The origins of the name are speculated to come from an old English phrase meaning the betrayer moon or a comparison to rare events when dust in the atmosphere makes the moon appear blue.

And on Tuesday, Jeddah will see the first of four “giant moons” of the year. This will see the moon appear as if it is 15 percent bigger and its illumination will seem 28 percent bigger.

Blue supermoon in Jeddah

If you want to marvel at the supermoon, head to an area where there aren’t streetlights. Clouds can also impact viewing. You could go to one of these Jeddah restaurants with great views or venture out to the desert and enjoy the clearer, unobstructed skies.

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Get those cameras ready.

Mon Aug 19-Tue Aug 20.