This month, October 2020, looks pretty exciting. On October 16, we will be able to see the closest and biggest new moon this year. But, that’s not all! The Blue Moon, near red Mars, is this year’s farthest and smallest full moon, coming on Halloween (October 31, 2020). You don’t want to miss the Halloween Blue Moon (blue in name only) near Mars - it is going to be interesting to see. In the meantime, we won't be able to see the October 16 new moon, the closest new moon of 2020, and therefore a supermoon. We rarely see a new moon, except when there's an eclipse). That happens because it's the moon phase that's closest to the Earth and the sun for any given month. New moons move across the sky with the sun all day, hidden in the light of the sun. The number of new moons this year is 12, but the moon this October arrives just about 4 hours before the moon moves to the lunar perigee: the closest point of the moon to Earth in its monthly path. New moon: October 16 at 19:31 UTC … [Read more...]