Story perspectives

Blue-Moon Micromoon to Occult Antares, Live-Webcast May 31

5/29/2026

Summary

Story summary

The May 31, 2026 full moon will be a blue moon and a micromoon at apogee about 252,360 miles from Earth.
U.S. viewers can see it peak at 4:45 a.m. Eastern Time with an unobstructed eastern horizon.
Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project will webcast the event live.
Observers in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and eastern Australia will see the moon occult Antares, producing spring tides about two inches lower than usual.

History

Historical Context

The term “blue moon” originated in a 1937 Maine Farmers’ Almanac and was formalized by James Hugh Pruett in 1946, gaining popular traction in the 1980s and culminating with the Jan 31 1999 blue moon that attracted 1.2 million public observations recorded by the International Astronomical Union. Leveraging that legacy, NASA and Gianluca Masi’s Virtual Telescope will webcast the May 31 2026 micromoon across Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and eastern Australia.

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Story summary

The May 31, 2026 full moon will be a blue moon and a micromoon at apogee about 252,360 miles from Earth.
U.S. viewers can see it peak at 4:45 a.m. Eastern Time with an unobstructed eastern horizon.
Gianluca Masi of the Virtual Telescope Project will webcast the event live.
Observers in Argentina, Chile, New Zealand and eastern Australia will see the moon occult Antares, producing spring tides about two inches lower than usual.

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