Once in a Blue Moon

August 02, 2012

I was the kind of kid who usually looked up at the sky when I played outside. I had a great time looking at trees, birds, planes, and clouds. Even now, I love watching lightning in the sky when we get those (increasingly rare this year) summer thunderstorms. I still try to get outside and get a look at various meteor showers when they occur, and seeing the Northern Lights one day in person is very near the top of my bucket list.

So...I was very excited to learn that we will have a blue moon this month. No, the moon does not actually change color and become blue! A blue moon occurs when we have a second full moon in the same calendar month. This year, August has a full moon on the 2nd and another on the 31st. The reason why a blue moon occurs is that it takes 29.5 days for the moon to orbit around Earth, but each calendar month typically has 30 or 31 days. Eventually, we will get a full moon at the beginning of the month, which would allow for us to have another full moon at the tail end of the month.

Happy Sky gazing!

Sheryl W.
North Oak Branch