When you look at the night sky on August 22nd, it may be harder than usual to spot the moon. This phenomenon won't happen again until 2028!

The Lunar Cycle

When you look at the sky each night, the moon will look a little bit different.  That's because every 29.5 days, we experience a new lunar cycle where the moon cycles through fullness from the new moon to the full moon.  I'll leave the scientific explanation of why we experience different lunar phases to NASA:

In our entire solar system, the only object that shines with its own light is the Sun. That light always beams onto Earth and Moon from the direction of the Sun, illuminating half of our planet in its orbit and reflecting off the surface of the Moon to create moonlight. Sometimes the entire face of the Moon glows brightly. Other times we see only a thin crescent of light. Sometimes the Moon seems to disappear. These shifts are called moon phases.

The Lunar Phases

NASA has the eight lunar phases listed in this order:

• New Moon
• Waxing Crescent
• First Quarter
• Waxing Gibbous
• Full Moon
• Waning Gibbous
• Third Quarter
• Waning Crescent

And this cycle repeats every 29.5 days.  So that means we typically experience a new moon about once a month.  So what makes August's new moon so different?  This month, we are experiencing a phenomenon called a "black moon."

What's the Difference Between a Seasonal Black Moon and a New Moon?

While a new moon is sometimes referred to as a "Black Moon" the seasonal Black Moon that's happening on August 22nd or 23rd (depending on your location) occurs around once every 3 years.  The seasonal Black Moon is the third new moon in an astronomical season of four moons.

Time and Date explains that this is considered a bit uncommon because we typically only experience 3 moons in an astronomical season.

This type of Black Moon refers to the third New Moon in an astronomical season of four New Moons (instead of the usual three). This rare event occurs around once every 33 months. The next one will happen on August 20, 2028—which will also be a Supermoon. - Time and Date

Different parts of the U.S. will experience the Black Moon at different times, and for the Tri-State area (Indiana, Kentucky, and Illinois) it looks like we will be able to see (or, well, not see) the Black Moon on August 22nd before midnight.  During this time, it will appear to us that there is no moon in the sky, which is both cool and a little bit creepy!

The Black Moon is Good News for Stargazers

If you are a fan of stargazing, then this is the night to do it! Since the moon won't be lighting up the night sky like normal, it will allow for more stars to show, and Time and Date even says that if you get far enough away from city lights, you may even catch a great show from the Perseid Meteor Shower!