Astroblog: "Blue" Apogee Full Moon (with Occulation) 31 May, 2026

Saturday, May 30, 2026

"Blue" Apogee Full Moon (with Occulation) 31 May, 2026


Full Moon May 31 18:42 ACST, 90 minutes after sunset as seen from Adelaide, similar views will be seen form the rest of Australia at the equivalent local time (click to embiggen).	Full Moon May 31 18:17 ACST Antares is just coming out of occultation ("Blue" apogee moon +19hrs apogee 15:02 1st June, Full Moon 19:15 31st.)

The Full Moon this Sunday May 31 is a "Blue" apogee Moon, the second full Moon in a month, and also (almost) at its furthest from Earth. Astronomical Full Moon is at 19:15 31st, astronomical apogee is 9hrs later on 15:02, 1st June. See if you can fix its image in your mind for comparison with our two perigee Moons, November 25th and December 24. The differences are in Full Moon size are subtle.

However, if you photograph them through a telescope, the differences in size are obvious (see the images of last years apogee and Perigee Moons to the left. Tips for photographing them are here.

There is also a difficult occultation of Antares, the brightest star in Scorpio. This starts low in the twilight and is mostly visible from the east coast, but egress of Antares may be easier to view. For details see my Occultation of Antares page for major city times.

Labels: apogee, Blue Moon, Moon, Occultation