J. Steven YorkYou're probably seeing a lot of links and notifications for stories like "Super Blue Moon, Not Another Until 2037, Here's How Not to Miss," and this is why you should NEVER click.
Somewhere in the last decade or so the internet discovered that headlines featuring "Moon" with some unusual name generated clicks, especially if they emphasize that this phenomenon is "rare" or "don't miss." But most of these things aren't that rare, and when they are, most aren't that noteworthy. But people click, and that's how everybody's feed gets filled up with trash science.
A super blue moon IS a little unusual, but the only thing interesting about seeing it is the "super" part, and that's a thing that happens every three or four months (good for clickbait, since you get 3-4 "gimmes" per year). A supermoon means a full moon that happens at the closest point in the moon's orbit. The moon will therefore be SLIGHTLY bigger and brighter (see picture) than a typical blue moon. A blue moon is the third full moon in the same season that has four full moons. This happens seven times every 19 years. A super-blue moon is irregular, but on average it's every ten years or so, though it can be as much as twenty.
But a blue moon LOOKS the same as any other full moon. It's of numeric significance, but it doesn't mean you'll see anything special. A super blue moon IS bigger, but no bigger than any other supermoon. And the difference isn't so different that you'd notice without being told. You might think, "hey, what a great moon tonight," but you probably wouldn't think it anything profound.
Look, don't get me wrong. ANY full moon is a beautiful sight, and worth taking the time to have a look. And if you KNOW there's a supermoon, make some extra effort to see it if you can. But if you don't you'll have plenty more chances.
What I'm saying is, don't give these hacks the satisfaction of rewarding their sensationalism with a click. If enough of us did that (yeah, fat chance) they'd stop feeding us trash science, and instead give us... I know, more trash. But look, don't click, just on principle. Go look it up on a legit astronomy or science site instead. You might just learn something. You might find the careless mistakes that I almost inevitably made in this post. And maybe, just maybe, you'll maybe get to see a beautiful full moon.
#science #supermoon #superbluemoon #clickbait #astronomy
Somewhere in the last decade or so the internet discovered that headlines featuring "Moon" with some unusual name generated clicks, especially if they emphasize that this phenomenon is "rare" or "don't miss." But most of these things aren't that rare, and when they are, most aren't that noteworthy. But people click, and that's how everybody's feed gets filled up with trash science.
A super blue moon IS a little unusual, but the only thing interesting about seeing it is the "super" part, and that's a thing that happens every three or four months (good for clickbait, since you get 3-4 "gimmes" per year). A supermoon means a full moon that happens at the closest point in the moon's orbit. The moon will therefore be SLIGHTLY bigger and brighter (see picture) than a typical blue moon. A blue moon is the third full moon in the same season that has four full moons. This happens seven times every 19 years. A super-blue moon is irregular, but on average it's every ten years or so, though it can be as much as twenty.
But a blue moon LOOKS the same as any other full moon. It's of numeric significance, but it doesn't mean you'll see anything special. A super blue moon IS bigger, but no bigger than any other supermoon. And the difference isn't so different that you'd notice without being told. You might think, "hey, what a great moon tonight," but you probably wouldn't think it anything profound.
Look, don't get me wrong. ANY full moon is a beautiful sight, and worth taking the time to have a look. And if you KNOW there's a supermoon, make some extra effort to see it if you can. But if you don't you'll have plenty more chances.
What I'm saying is, don't give these hacks the satisfaction of rewarding their sensationalism with a click. If enough of us did that (yeah, fat chance) they'd stop feeding us trash science, and instead give us... I know, more trash. But look, don't click, just on principle. Go look it up on a legit astronomy or science site instead. You might just learn something. You might find the careless mistakes that I almost inevitably made in this post. And maybe, just maybe, you'll maybe get to see a beautiful full moon.
#science #supermoon #superbluemoon #clickbait #astronomy