Rare 'Blue Moon' Will Shine Friday Night

Sky-gazers can enjoy a rare celestial event Friday night as the second full moon of August shines overhead.

This "blue moon" refers not to color, but to rarity. Blue moons are defined as either the fourth full moon in a season, or as the second full moon in a month. The first full moon this month was on Aug. 1.

Blue moons happen because our calendar months don't precisely sync with the moon's orbit. It takes the moon 29.5 days to wax and wane from full to new to full again. With the exception of February, months are longer than that, meaning that once in a while the timing works out so there are two full moons in one month, according to LiveScience. A blue moon should occur, on average, every 2.7 years.

Want to get a shot of the moon that is out of this world? Check out these  

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