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First of Four Supermoons Tonight - Lunar Eclipse Coming to Washington, Oregon, Coastlines

Published 8/18/24 at 10:35 p.m.
By Andre' GW Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection

(Portland, Oregon) – The first of four supermoons of 2024 begins August 19 (Monday, though it's mostly full tonight), and one of them includes a partial eclipse. Those in Oregon, Washington and coastline towns such as Ocean Park, Seaside, Newport or Gold Beach will be able to see full moons that are larger than usual, and the brightest moon events of the entire year.

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According to Portland astronomy expert Jim Todd, with the science museum OMSI, the August moon kicks off a few months of stellar events.

“September’s supermoon will coincide with a partial lunar eclipse,” Todd said. “October’s will be the closest approach, and November’s will be the last for 2024.”

On September 17, Portland, Seattle, Salem, Spokane, Manzanita, Port Orford to Burns – and everything in between – will get to see a slight lunar eclipse. It will only take a tiny bite out of the moon, little enough that most people won't notice.

Those in the Antarctica, western Indian Ocean, the Middle East, Europe and Africa will get to see it, along with those of us in the Americas. It's a shallow lunar eclipse, which from the point of view of Portland, Silverton, Tacoma or Medford begins a bit before daylight is even done, at 6:55 p.m.

Then, as most Pacific Northwest towns see sundown at about 7:14 p.m., the eclipse is still gearing up. About 7:44 p.m. it hits the greatest degree of shadow on the moon, only taking out about 8% - according to NASA.

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You'll see things get a little darker overall, though that won't be very perceptible without taking numerous photos of the moon in stages. At one point, you'll see a tiny bite being taken out of the moon. EarthSky.org said binoculars won't be needed to see it, but they'll help you get a better look.

Meanwhile, the bright light next to it will be Saturn.

“You may not notice the difference in size, but a supermoon will appear brighter in the sky,” Todd said.

The full moon of September 17 will be 42 degrees about the southern horizon, and October 17 will be 53 degrees and just slightly brighter.

“October 17 supermoon will be the closest, biggest, and brightest full supermoon of 2024,” Todd said. “A supermoon exceeds the disk size of an average-sized Moon by up to 8% and the brightness of an average-sized full Moon by some 16%.”

Todd said the scientific term for this is actually "perigee moon." They vary in size because of the moon's oval orbit around us.

“The Moon follows an elliptical path around Earth with one side ('perigee') about 31,069 miles closer than the other ('apogee'). Full Moons that occur on the perigee side of the Moon's orbit seem extra big and bright.”

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Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

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