Saturday's blue moon will be the last until 2020
This Saturday night, keep your eyes on the sky to catch the second, and last blue moon of the year.
A blue moon is defined as the second full moon occurring in the same month — so no it will not actually be blue.
Not to say the moon can never look blue. According to NASA, dust or smoke in the atmosphere can give the moon a blueish appearance as the 1 micron wide particles, which are about the same as the wavelength of red light, scatter red light and allow blue light to pass through. This most often occurs after forest fires or volcano eruptions.
Still, having two full moons in the same month is a rarity — you may have heard a common saying reflecting this. The Weather Channel reports the next blue moon rising in 2020, on Halloween night — spooky!
Snow is expected for much of the state on Saturday morning, but hopefully by evening you can find a break in the clouds and peep the rare full, if not actually blue, moon.
Here's some background music for the event:
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