A rare blue micromoon is set to appear this weekend, when a second full moon in one month coincides with a more distant, slightly smaller and dimmer lunar show. In the Northern Hemisphere, Antares will be briefly obscured as the moon crosses in front of the br
This weekend, the moon will look a little farther away than usual—and in a narrow slice of the sky, a famous star will briefly disappear.
Skywatchers will be watching for a blue micromoon: a blue moon that. as astronomers describe it. is the most distant and smallest-looking full moon of the year. In the Northern Hemisphere, the spectacle lines up with Antares, a bright star in the constellation Scorpius. The moment could feel extra dramatic south of the equator and across the Pacific. where the moon will pass in front of Antares and obscure it.
The term “blue moon” can sound like a color change. but it doesn’t mean the lunar surface turns turquoise. sapphire. or anything else. It refers to a quirk of the calendar in the sky: the second full moon of a single month. This month, the first full moon happened on May 1. The last blue moon emerged in 2023, and the next one won’t arrive until December 31, 2028.
What makes this particular blue moon feel different is its distance. Because the moon’s orbit isn’t a perfect circle. this weekend’s full moon will be farther from Earth than usual. at 252. 360 miles. That added stretch will make it seem a bit smaller and dimmer. It’s the opposite of a supermoon. when a full moon comes closer than normal; the most recent supermoon was just 225. 130 miles away.
To catch it, observers have to look intentionally. Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project said the micromoon will appear 6% smaller and 10% dimmer, roughly, than an average full moon. In his words, the differences “are subtle enough to likely go unnoticed by most observers.”
For anyone who wants a closer look, the Virtual Telescope Project says it will stream live images of the blue micromoon captured by its robotic telescopes.
Where you live may decide whether you see the star vanishing act. In the Southern Hemisphere, stargazers may get more of the drama. For people in Argentina. Chile. New Zealand. eastern Australia. parts of Antarctica. and some other islands. Antares will temporarily disappear as the blue micromoon passes in front of it. Antares is a red supergiant star about 550 light-years away, nicknamed the “heart of scorpion” in Scorpius. A light-year is almost 6 trillion miles.
Not everyone will see Antares blink out. For those looking up elsewhere in the world, Antares will remain constantly visible alongside the full moon.
The sequence is simple: a blue moon defined by timing becomes a micromoon defined by distance—so this weekend’s skywatching experience is about both the calendar coincidence and the subtle shrink-and-dim effect. After that, the next opportunity for a blue moon won’t come until the end of 2028.
blue moon micromoon Antares Scorpius full moon Virtual Telescope Project robotic telescopes stargazing supermoon orbital distance