Don't miss Friday night's rare blue moon beauty

[lauerz]

http://www.grindtv.com/outdoor/blog/34690/fridays+rare+blue+moon+beauty+comes+as+neil+armstrong+is+laid+to+rest/

On Friday night a rare blue moon will rise in the sky in an astronomical event that occurs only once every three years or so. If you're hoping to see the blue moon but the sky above you is cloudy, don't fret. The web-based Slooh Space Camera will broadcast the event live beginning at 6 p.m. EDT. (The website's even got a countdown clock to its blue moon coverage.

Friday evening's blue moon will allow fans of the late Neil Armstrong to marvel at man's incredible feat. Armstrong was the first man to set foot on the lunar surface back in 1969. This photo was taken early Friday morning as the moon technically turned full. Photo: Travis Burke

Comments

[lauerz.livejournal.com]

Folklore will tell you that strange things go bump in the night when there's a blue moon--but what folklore won't tell you is that blue moons aren't really blue. The term is a misnomer and actually refers to the second of two full moons that occur during the same calendar month.

Because the lunar cycle is 29.5 days, most months only see one full moon. But every once in a while a full moon rises twice in the same month and becomes a blue moon--at least that is the accepted definition today, even though it originally arose from a mistake in Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946. The next time we humans will see a blue moon is on July 31, 2015.

[lauerz.livejournal.com]

Friday night will be your last chance to see the blue moon until 2015.