MORGANTOWN — Are you ready for the rise of the “Sturgeon Moon?”
You don’t have to ask Brian Lada twice.
And yes, the AccuWeather meteorologist said with a laugh, he knows it sounds like the title of a low-budget horror movie you’d catch at a 1970s drive-in when you say it like that.
Lada, an astronomy enthusiast besides being a professional watcher of weather, will have a front-row seat in his backyard for this celestial show.
After sundown, the aforementioned moon will rise.
It won’t be at a full 100%, he said – that won’t happen until 8 a.m. Sunday – but it will be full enough.
Jupiter and Saturn will also be super-bright in the same sky.
“Yeah,” he said, “that’s the interstellar trifecta.”
Plus, he said, if you grab a pair of binoculars, you’ll be able to see four little dots around Jupiter.
Ganymede, Europa, Callisto and Io, they are the four largest of Jupiter’s 79 moons, visible because of planetary alignment.
This weekend, our moon is technically a “Blue Moon,” since it will be the fourth such showing this summer.
Don’t be surprised if you do see a literal bluish cast, Lada said, given the particles of dust and smoke in the atmosphere, from the country’s current spate of wildfires out West.
Or, he said, it could appear slightly red, orange or yellow while nearer the horizon – because of the same.
The “sturgeon” handle stuck, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, as Lada noted, because for generations late August was traditionally the best time to catch fish of the same name swimming in the Great Lakes.
Either way, he said, the sight of a full moon never fails to stir tides of emotion – for him and everyone else on this planet.
“You look at it, and that’s space,” he said. “That’s outer space. One time we sent people to the moon. They walked on it.”
Its orb, especially in full measure, he said, is omnipresent. Anyone can see it, from anywhere in the world.
“It’s hard not to be awed when you’re looking up at the night sky.”
TWEET @DominionPostWV
