Tonight Is Your Last Chance to See a Blue Moon Until 2020

Star and moon gazing fans should take note. An upcoming Blue Moon will take place Saturday — a phenomenon that won’t happen again until 2020.A Blue Moon is the name given to the second full moon to occur in a single calendar month.Saturday’s Blue Moon is actually the second one of its kind since the beginning of the year — meaning it is the second time in three months that two full moons have occurred in a calendar month, Space.com reports.The weekend event is also the first full moon of spring — making it not only a Blue Moon, but a Paschal Moon.Despite its name, A Blue Moon do not emit a blue hue. In fact, it does not look different than any other full moon. According to Space.com, the name has been around for centuries and “originally signified something that’s absurd, but then shifted over time to refer to exceedingly rare events.”However, Blue Moons aren’t that uncommon. They occur, on average, once every 2.7 years because it takes the moon roughly 29.5 days to circle Earth, but the calendar month has 30 or 31 days — except for February, Space.com says.This is not the only lunar showstopper that has taken place so far this year. A Super Blue Blood Moon delighted skywatchers on Jan. 31.Photo Credit: Getty Images, File
Source: NBC San Diego