Here’s when and how to watch the rare blue, or Sturgeon, moon before it next occurs in August 2024.
A blue moon is the third full moon in a season containing four full moons, rather than the usual three, according to Sky & Telescope magazine. The sky phenomenon has been a cultural muse for music, art and language — such as hit songs » When My Blue Moon Turns to Gold Again » and » Blue Moon, » recorded by multiple artists including Elvis Presley, and the saying « once in a blue moon, » which describes a rare event. NASA has reported the first recorded use of « blue moon » occurring in 1528, while Sky & Telescope has traced the term’s origin back to the Maine Farmers’ Almanac published in the 1930s. « Introducing the ‘Blue’ Moon meant that the traditional full Moon names, such as the Wolf Moon and Harvest Moon, stayed in (sync) with their season, » said Diana Hannikainen, Sky & Telescope’s observing editor, in a news release. This was before late amateur astronomer and Sky & Telescope contributor Hugh Pruett incorrectly understood the definition in 1946, and ultimately helped circulate the popular definition of blue moon: the second full moon within a month, the last of which occurred on Halloween 2020, according to Sky & Telescope. People in the Americas will be able to see a nearly full moon Saturday night, before the true blue moon reaches its highest point in the sky early Sunday morning at 1:04 a.m. Eastern time, according to NASA. The moon will reach peak illumination at 8:02 a.m. Eastern time Sunday and appear close to full after dusk that day. The full blue moon, which happens about once every 2.7 years on average, won’t actually appear blue, though — that only happens even more rarely, when « volcanic eruptions or forest fires send lots of smoke and fine dust into the atmosphere, » according to Sky & Telescope.
