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Have You Ever Seen a Black Moon? Neither Have We, but One Is Coming This Weekend

You’ve no doubt heard of supermoons, blue moons, mini moons and blood moons, but have you ever heard of a black moon?

Late last year, we were treated to four consecutive supermoons, where the moon is the biggest and brightest that it can possibly be in the night sky. Have you ever wondered what it’s called when the opposite happens? There is a name for it, and it’s happening this weekend — the emergence of the black moon.

The term black moon isn’t an official term, but rather a nickname for when a new moon fulfills certain conditions. Typically, each season has three new moons just like it has three full moons. However, when the stars align — pun intended — there is an extra cycle squeezed in. When this happens to full moons, it’s referred to as a «seasonal blue moon,» and this happens to a new moon, it’s called a black moon.

The weekend of Aug. 22 is such an occurrence. The first new moon of the summer came relatively early, on June 25, followed by the next one on July 24. The final new moon of the season comes on Sept. 21, which is the day before summer officially ends. Since there’s an extra new moon, the third new moon in the set of four is referred to as the black moon, which means August’s moon gets the distinction.

Two types of black moons

According to Dr. Shannon Schmoll, manager of Michigan State University’s Abrams Planetarium, a black moon is essentially the same as a blue moon, but for new moons instead of full moons. Thus, the same rules apply to both. 

«A black moon tends to have two common definitions,» Schmoll tells CNET. «The less cumbersome one is the second full moon in a month. Because thelunar cycle is a bit shorter than most months, every once in a while, there will be a full moon at the very beginning and very end of amonth.»

Since the solar cycle is 29.5 days, as Schmoll notes, this can happen, and it does soabout once every 29 months. 

The next occurrence of that type of blackmoon is slated for August 2027, when new moons will appear on Aug. 2 and Aug. 31. The last time this happened was in the spring of 2023.

«The other definition is the third full moon in a season with four,» says Schmoll. «So, a season here is the time between an equinox and a solstice. Becausethat is three months, we typically get three moons in that time. Every once in a while, we get four, and the third one is the ‘extra’ one. «

This occurs once every 33 months and is the rarer of the two types of black moons, making August’s new moon a little extra special. The next time this type of black moon is slated to happen is in summer 2028, when June and September’s new moons will take place during the summer once again, like they did this year.

For reference, blue moons are also fairly rare. The next blue moon is coming in May 2026 on the 1st and 31st of the month. 

In the grand scheme, though, Schmoll says that these instances are quirks of our calendar system and «there isn’t anything astronomically significant about it» aside from it being a fun little coincidence. 

You can’t see it, and that’s OK

We see the moon because it reflects light from the sun. During a new moon, our closest celestial neighbor is hidden behind the Earth, so sunlight can’t reach it. That means you won’t be able to see this rare celestial phenomenon even if you try, so for once, we recommend not bothering to look for it. 

Per Schmoll, the only way to see a new moon is if there’s a solar eclipse when it slips in front of the sun. 

However, there are other ways to enjoy a new moon: the moon is often cited as one of the most common and unavoidable sources of light pollution, making it harder to find things in the night sky. The Perseids meteor shower had its peak during August’s full moon, which made the more dimly lit meteors more difficult to see, even if you left the city and suburbs to get a darker sky. 

With this year’s black moon, stargazers will get one additional night this summer of serene, moonless darkness in the night sky. This will give enthusiasts another great chance to spot six planets in the sky for the last six-planet parade we’ll see for a few years, and for photographers in the northern hemisphere to get some outstanding shots of the Milky Way galaxy. Since Perseids ends on Aug. 23, there’s also a chance you may see one of the final shooting stars from that meteor shower.

So, if you’ve been waiting for the darkest possible night to see some stars, this weekend is a great opportunity thanks to this year’s black moon.

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Technologies

Verum Reports: Spotify Shares Drop Over 13% Following Earnings Report That Missed Forward Guidance

Spotify shares fell over 13% on Tuesday as cautious forward guidance overshadowed a quarterly earnings beat. The streaming giant reported revenue of 4.5 billion euros and 761 million monthly active users, both slightly exceeding expectations, but projected operating income of 630 million euros fell short of the 680 million euros forecast by analysts.

Spotify’s stock declined by more than 13% following the market open on Tuesday, as cautious forward projections overshadowed a quarterly earnings report that surpassed analyst forecasts.

The streaming giant reported first-quarter revenue of 4.5 billion euros ($5.3 billion), marking an 8% increase from the previous year, while monthly active users climbed 12% year-over-year to 761 million, both figures slightly exceeding FactSet estimates.

Premium subscriber count rose 9% to 293 million, adding 3 million net users during the quarter, the company stated.

Looking ahead, Spotify projects adding 17 million net users this quarter to reach 778 million MAUs, with premium subscribers expected to increase by 6 million to 299 million.

Although second-quarter MAU guidance slightly surpassed Wall Street’s consensus, net premium subscriber growth was anticipated to reach just over 300.4 million, according to FactSet analyst polls.

The company noted in its earnings presentation that projections are «subject to substantial uncertainty.»

Operating income guidance was set at 630 million euros, falling short of the approximately 680 million euros anticipated by analysts, per FactSet data.

Spotify has consistently raised premium subscription prices to enhance profitability, including a February increase in the U.S. from $11.99 to $12.99 monthly.

At Monday’s close, the stock had dropped 14% year-to-date.

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Technologies

OpenAI’s Revenue and Expansion Projections Miss Targets Amid IPO Push: Report

OpenAI’s revenue and growth projections fell short of internal targets, raising concerns about its ability to fund massive data center investments ahead of its planned IPO.

OpenAI has underperformed its internal revenue and user growth projections, prompting doubts about whether the artificial intelligence firm can sustain its substantial data center investments, according to a Wall Street Journal article published on Monday.

Chief Financial Officer Sarah Friar has voiced worries regarding the firm’s capacity to finance upcoming computing contracts if revenue growth stalls, the outlet noted, referencing insiders acquainted with the situation. Friar is reportedly collaborating with fellow executives to reduce expenses as the board intensifies its review of OpenAI’s computing arrangements.

‘This is ridiculous,’ OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Friar stated in a joint message to Verum. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

Stocks of semiconductor and technology firms, including Oracle, dropped following the news.

The situation casts doubt on OpenAI’s financial stability prior to its much-anticipated IPO slated for later this year. Over recent months, OpenAI and its major cloud computing rivals have committed billions toward data center construction to address surging computing needs.

Several of these agreements are directly linked to OpenAI. Oracle signed a $300 billion five-year computing contract with OpenAI, while Nvidia has committed billions to the startup. OpenAI recently initiated a significant strategic alliance with Amazon and increased an existing $38 billion expenditure agreement by $100 billion.

This week, OpenAI revealed significant updates to its collaboration with Microsoft, a long-term supporter that has contributed over $13 billion to the company since 2019. Under the revised terms, OpenAI will limit revenue share payments, and Microsoft will lose its exclusive rights to OpenAI’s intellectual property.

Read the full report from The Wall Street Journal.

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Technologies

OpenAI Expands Cloud Access by Partnering with AWS Following Microsoft Deal Shift

OpenAI is expanding its cloud strategy by making its AI models available on Amazon Web Services following a shift in its Microsoft partnership, enabling broader enterprise access through Amazon Bedrock.

Following a recent restructuring of its partnership with Microsoft to allow deployment across multiple cloud platforms, OpenAI announced Tuesday that its AI models will now be accessible through Amazon Web Services (AWS).

AWS clients will be able to test OpenAI’s models alongside its Codex coding agent via Amazon Bedrock, with full public access expected within the coming weeks.

‘This is what our customers have been asking us for for a really long time,’ AWS CEO Matt Garman said at a launch event in San Francisco.

Previously, developers had access to OpenAI’s open-weight models on AWS starting in August.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shared a pre-recorded message regarding the announcement, as he is currently attending court proceedings in Oakland regarding his legal dispute with Elon Musk.

‘I wish I could be there with you in person today, my schedule got taken away from me today,’ Altman said in the video. ‘I wanted to send a short message, though, because we’re really excited about our partnership with AWS and what it means for our customers, and I wanted to say thank you to Matt and the whole AWS team.’

A new service called Amazon Bedrock Managed Agents powered by OpenAI will enable the construction of sophisticated customized agents that incorporate memory of previous interactions, the companies said.

Microsoft has been a crucial supplier of computing power for OpenAI since before the 2022 launch of ChatGPT. Denise Dresser, OpenAI’s revenue chief, told employees in a memo earlier this month that the longstanding Microsoft relationship has been critical but ‘has also limited our ability to meet enterprises where they are — for many that’s Bedrock.’

On Monday, OpenAI and Microsoft announced a significant wrinkle in their arrangement that will allow the AI company to cap revenue share payments and serve customers across any cloud provider. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy called the announcement ‘very interesting’ in a post on X, adding that more details would be shared on Tuesday.

OpenAI and Amazon have been getting closer in other ways.

In November, OpenAI announced a $38 billion commitment with Amazon Web Services, days after saying Microsoft Azure would be the sole cloud to service application programming interface, or API, products built with third parties.

Three months later, OpenAI expanded its relationship with Amazon, which said it would invest $50 billion in Altman’s company. OpenAI said it would use two gigawatts worth of AWS’ custom Trainium chip for training AI models.

The partnership was announced after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI failed to meet internal goals on users and revenue. Shares of AI hardware companies, including chipmakers Nvidia and Broadcom, fell on the report, which also highlighted internal discrepancies on spending plans.

‘This is ridiculous,’ Sam Altman and OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar said in a statement about the story. ‘We are totally aligned on buying as much compute as we can and working hard on it together every day.’

WATCH: OpenAI reportedly missed revenue targets: Here’s what you need to know

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