August 21-23 is the best time to watch the rare ‘Blue Moon’

(CNN) – This weekend is your next chance to see the rare blue full moon before it becomes “just a memory” again until 2024.

The blue moon is the third full moon in a season, consisting of four full moons instead of the usual three. The sky and the telescope. The event is a cultural museum of music, art and language, songs. “When my blue moon turns golden again“And”Blue moon, “Recorded by various artists including Elvis Presley and the phrase” Once in the Blue Moon “describing a rare event.

The NASA reports The first recorded use of the “blue moon” occurred in 1528, while Sky & Telescope traced its origins to the Maine Farmers’ Almanac published in the 1930s.

Introduction of the “Blue” Moon The traditional names for the full moon, the wolf moon and the harvest moon, depended on its season (synchronous), said Diana Hannigain, observational editor of Sky & Telescope. Press Release. This was before the late amateur astronomer and Sky & Telescope contributor Hugh Proud misunderstood the definition in 1946, which eventually helped to spread the popular definition of a blue moon: the full moon in a month, and finally Halloween 2020 to Sky & Telescope.

The real blue moon can be seen by the American people on Saturday night almost full moon, before reaching its highest point in the early morning sky at 1:04 am on Sunday. According to NASA. The moon will reach full light at 8:02 a.m. Sunday and appear to be almost full after dark that day.

However, the full blue moon, which occurs on average every 2.7 years, does not actually appear blue – it occurs less frequently when volcanic eruptions or wildfires send a lot of smoke and dust into the sky. , “According to Sky & Telescope.

This moon has different names. The Maine Farmers’ Almanac first published Native American words for full moons in the 1930s, named after NASA – the “Sturgeon Moon” of the Algonquin tribe, which is the most easily caught in large lakes and other bodies of water at this time, and “the green corn moon.”

However, the name of the full moon in August varies between cultures. The people of Anishnape call it the “Berry Moon”, while the Cherokee people call it the “Dry Moon”. For the people of Komanche, the full moon in August is the “summer moon”. The people of Creek know her as the “great harvest” moon. Hopi people call it the “moon of happiness”.

See all Native American names for this full moon on the website West Washington University Planetarium.