The moon reaches its full phase at 9:58 a.m. EDT (1358 GMT) Friday, marking the secon
d full moon of August (the previous one occurred Aug. 1). Stargazers won't be able to see two full moons in a single month again until July 2015.
Friday's full moon won't actually be blue, unless a load of dust or ash in the atmosphere lends it that particular hue from your vantage point. In any event, blue moons aren't named for their color, and they look like any other full moon in the sky most of the time.
Rather, the term has always been associated with an "extra" full moon. In the first half of the 20th century, for example, it apparently referred to the third full moon of a season — spring, summer, winter or fall — that boasted four full moons instead of the usual three.
Friday's full moon won't actually be blue, unless a load of dust or ash in the atmosphere lends it that particular hue from your vantage point. In any event, blue moons aren't named for their color, and they look like any other full moon in the sky most of the time.
Rather, the term has always been associated with an "extra" full moon. In the first half of the 20th century, for example, it apparently referred to the third full moon of a season — spring, summer, winter or fall — that boasted four full moons instead of the usual three.
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