Blue Moon Set To Illuminate Qatar's Sky On Sunday, QCH Says

Doha: Qatar's skies are set to be illuminated by the "Blue Moon" phenomenon on Sunday, May 31, with the Dhu Al-Hijjah lunar Moon becoming full at 11:45 a.m. Doha local time, the Qatar Calendar House (QCH) announced on Saturday.

Bashir Marzouq, an astronomy expert at QCH, highlighted that folks in Qatar will be able to behold this Blue Moon with the naked eye after moonrise on Sunday evening until just before sunrise on Monday.

Moonrise over the sky of Qatar will occur at 6:39 p.m. on Sunday evening, while sunrise on the following day will be at 4:44 a.m. Doha local time, Marzouq said.

He added that this Blue Moon is an almost biannual and triennial phenomenon. The last one was recorded in August 2023, and it is anticipated to occur once again in December 2028.

The Qatari astronomer noted that the occurrence of this phenomenon requires two conditions: first, that the Moon is in the full Moon phase, and second, that this full Moon is the second full Moon within a single calendar month.

Marzouq pointed out that first full Moon lit up Qatar's skies on Friday, May 1, while the Moon will reach the full Moon phase again on Sunday evening, making it the second full Moon of the same month.

He further recalled that though the designation is "Blue Moon", it will not appear blue in color but in its usual color, as is the case with all full Moon events.

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