The astronomical rarity behind the common phrase “once in a blue moon,” will be on full display Friday night.
Canadians will get a chance to see a blue moon this weekend, as a full moon rises for the second time in August. It’s their last opportunity to do so until 2015, when the next blue moon is scheduled to appear.
The timing coincides with the death of U.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong – the first man to step on the moon’s surface.
Armstrong died on Aug. 25, 2012. His funeral was held in Cincinnati, Ohio on Friday. The service included a military fly-over and nature appears to be giving Armstrong its own tribute with the blue moon.
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In announcing his death, Armstrong’s family requested that when people “see the moon smiling down at you, think of Neil Armstrong and give him a wink.”
The moon won’t literally be blue. The moon is called “blue” when it appears full twice in one month.
August will have its second full moon on Friday to kick off the Labour Day weekend. The first full moon also appeared during a long weekend on August. 1.
So what colour will the moon be Friday?
Like others before it, the blue moon will probably be a greyish white. But to be sure, sky-watchers will have to step outside Friday night and see for themselves.
Send us your blue moon photos on Groundforce.
Truly blue moons are possible, according to NASA. The key ingredient is a volcanic eruption. The space agency reports that people saw blue moons for a long time after the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa erupted in 1883.
The ash coloured the top of Earth’s atmosphere, making the moon appear blue.
Similar reports followed the 1983 eruption of the El Chichon volcano in Mexico and the 1980 eruption of Mt. St. Helens in the U.S. NASA states forest fires can have the same effect.
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