Another month, another intense moon to behold this weekend. And on Saturday comes the arrival of May’s rare Blue Flower Moon.
In general, a full moon in May is always referred to as the flower moon becomes of all the blooming plants. Unfortunately, the blue moon has nothing to do with color, as it typically refers to the having two full moons in the same month.
Then there’s what’s called a “seasonal” blue moon. According to astronomers, when a season has four full moons the third one is called the blue moon.
A typical season has three full moons, but this Spring, which runs from March 20 to the summer solstice on June 21, will have four.
Seasonal blue moons happen every two or three years. The last seasonal blue moon occurred on May 21, 2016, and the next one is set to appear on August 22, 2021.
For those keeping score, so far this year, we’ve had January’s Super Blood Wolf Moon, February’s Super Snow Moon, March’s Super Worm Moon, and April’s Full Pink Moon.
You can catch Saturday’s Full Flower Blue Moon by looking up at the sky starting at 5:11 p.m. E.S.T.
Goodnight, moon!