The adrenaline rush of driving supercars at high speeds on public roads just hits different.
31.08.2023 - 20:09 / atlasobscura.com / Atlas Obscura
Atlas Obscura’s Wondersky columnist Rebecca Boyle is an award-winning science journalist and author of the upcoming Our Moon: How Earth’s Celestial Companion Transformed the Planet, Guided Evolution, and Made Us Who We Are (January 2024, Random House). She shares the stories and secrets of our wondrous night sky.
The celestial event that brings summer to a close is one you might typically take for granted. It’s a full Moon again, when Earth’s companion is opposite the sun from us, and its whole face is illuminated in our sky. A full Moon happens every month, of course. But that reliable return belies the distinctive, individual nature of each lunar cycle. And this full Moon has more superlatives than most.
The full Moon comes back every month—that’s why it’s called a month—but pay close attention, and you will notice that each of them is very different from one another. There are summer full Moons, sailing low in the sky and often hazy from humidity in the lower atmosphere; harvest Moons that beam ghostly pale light through freshly bare trees; high winter Moons, illuminating new-fallen snow. There are supermoons, micromoons, blood Moons, blue Moons.
This full Moon peaks overnight on Aug. 30 into Aug. 31, but it will look full from Tuesday through Friday of this week. It is a full, super, blue Moon, the only blue Moon of 2023, and a lunar trifecta that won’t occur again until 2037.
Many cultures around Earth imbue certain lunar cycles with meaning, using full or crescent Moons to mark celebrations or festivals. The Aug. 30-31 full Moon, for instance, marks a Hindu festival called Raksha Bandhan, also known as Rakhi Purnima, which celebrates the bond between brothers and sisters. This full Moon also heralds preparation for the Jewish New Year: Rosh Hashanah begins on the night when this full Moon fades and a new Moon phase begins, on Sept. 15.
At sunset, look to the eastern-southeastern horizon, and you may be able to see the Moon rising. It will be near Saturn, which I hope you saw last week. You can use this tool to calculate the precise time when the Moon rises in your location. If you can see moonrise clearly, you might be surprised at how big the Moon appears to be, as it climbs above the sea, the city, or your backyard.
This Moon is indeed a supermoon—our satellite is again at its closest point to Earth during this orbit, so it will look up to 14 percent larger and brighter than usual—but the gargantuan Moon cresting Earth’s horizon is not as big as it looks. The so-called Moon illusion is a strange, not-well-understood phenomenon that makes the Moon look huge because of how it is arrayed against the landscape, or objects in the foreground. Although no one can yet fully explain this trick of our
The adrenaline rush of driving supercars at high speeds on public roads just hits different.
With the Monaco Yacht Show unveiling countless new superyachts this month, one showstopper will return with a splash after it was revealed last year. U-Boat Worx submarine concept is breathtaking, and new photos show off its stunning interiors.
Talk of the “invaders” started in the early spring. Along Italy’s northern Adriatic coast and in Tuscan fish farms workers were pulling up their nets and finding them chewed to threads.
In these destinations, the focus of a new Netflix series, wellness isn’t a conscious goal, but an ancient way of life.
Rajasthan, India’s largest state, is a realm of sand dunes interrupted by silvery lakes and fort-studded cities. Flush with rose-colored palaces, the capital, Jaipur, is better known as the “Pink City”. Home to North India’s finest fort, the westerly “Blue City” of Jodhpur places you at the edge of the Thar Desert. Any odyssey in the “Land of Kings” calls for calm accommodations where you can catch your breath between sights and excursions. Ranging from palace stays to earthen homes, these are the most unique Airbnbs in Rajasthan for experiencing the city, desert, and lakes.
Combine one of New York’s top bars, an adventurous distillery and a famous troupe of three men painted in blue and you wind up with the bedlam of Mindcluck II — an interactive cocktail + theater experience where the drinks are part of the story.
Early on a Sunday morning in July, two brothers from Boston sat on Reykjavik’s rocky coast, with their faces turned toward the chilly waters of the bay and their feet soaking in what felt like a warm bath. Ben and Lucas Zheng had landed around 4:30 a.m. at Iceland’s international airport, and didn’t have too many early-morning options for how to spend the start of their eight-hour layover before flying on to Venice. So, taking advantage of the season’s round-the-clock daylight, they walked 40 minutes from the city center toward the northwestern tip of the Seltjarnarnes peninsula. There on the stony beach, they rolled up their pants and sat for a couple of hours, their legs submerged in the naturally warm Kvika pool, which, at 12 inches deep, is more foot bath than hot tub.
The Lodge at Blue Sky by Auberge Resorts Collection has won the ‘Lavazza One To Watch Award’ ahead of the inaugural World’s 50 Best Hotels awards ceremony on September 19.
It’ll be tough to top last month’s two supermoons, but September has a host of night-sky fun in store. We have planet sightings, the year’s last supermoon, a potential comet sighting, and it’s one of the last months of the year to spot the Milky Way core, according to Photopills. It’s also the return of the long-awaited aurora borealis season in the northern hemisphere.
If you’re still awestruck by early August’seye-popping supermoon, there’s more awe on the horizon. On the night of Aug. 30, skywatchers can admire not just the month’s second full moon — known as a rare blue moon — but a super blue moon.
As the sky began to tint lemon-yellow one evening last month, 50 or so Parisians marched along to the Rue de l’Aude in the south of the city and gathered in a nautically themed loft space filled with chairs.
Warner Bros. World™ Abu Dhabi invites families and loved ones to enjoy the last of ‘DC Super Hero Season’, which will be running until September 3rd. Featuring a unique lineup of live shows, action-packed fight scenes and family-friendly entertainment at every corner, guests are guaranteed an unforgettable summer finale with DC’s finest Super Heroes.