That was a novel, play, and film of the 1950s. (It was about a clash between American and Japanese cultures on the island Okinawa after the end of World War Two. Military officers sent to Americanize local institutions found themselves converted to the local ways instead.)
For the year 2023, August neatly covers the second of two special times for the Moon, when it swings closer toward us, as is made clear in the distance graph on page 91 of Astronomical Calendar 2023.
See the end note about enlarging illustrations.
On Jan. 21 and Feb. 20 it was the new Moon that almost coincided with perigee; on Aug. 1 and 31 it is the full Moon that does so, and therefore looks slightly larger than average. This effect happens every year (about a month and a half later each year).
Media chatter likes to call the perigean Moon a Supermoon. But the difference in angular size caused by varying distance is too slight to be noticeable. It has nothing to do with the “Moon illusion,” the very strong and uncertainly explained effect in which the Moon seems larger when it is low to the horizon, irrespective of its distance and angular size.
The numbers involved this time, also from the Astronomical Calendar:
And here is this full Moon rising into view tomorrow evening.
The precise full moment, opposite to the Sun, happens at 18:32 Universal Time, which is back in daylight for North America and Europe. And yes, there may be a few straggling meteors from the Aquarid stream. Here is what Astronomical Calendar 2023 says about them:
“July 30: Southern Delta Aquarids. Formerly there was thought to be a diffuse group, the Southern peaking around July 30 and the Northern Aug. 7. But the Northern stream has been found to be merely part of the Antihelion Source. The Aquarids are better for southerly observers, though for latitude 40° north the radiant is in the sky most of the night, highest around 2 AM. The meteors appear sparse, because they are spread widely, but may add up to one of the most massive of streams. Mostly faint, a few bright; 5-10% leave persistent trains; they move medium-slowly, because coming in sideways across Earth’s orbit.”
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This weblog maintains its right to be about astronomy or anything under the sun.
ILLUSTRATIONS in these posts are made with precision but have to be inserted in another format. You may be able to enlarge them on your monitor. One way: right-click, and choose “View image” or “Open image in new tab”, then enlarge. Or choose “Copy image”, then put it on your desktop, then open it. On an iPad or phone, use the finger gesture that enlarges (spreading with two fingers, or tapping and dragging with three fingers). Other methods have been suggested, such as dragging the image to the desktop and opening it in other ways.
Sometimes I make improvements or corrections to a post after publishing it. If you click on the title, rather than on ‘Read more’, I think you are sure to see the latest version. Or you can click ‘Refresh’ to get the latest version.