Contrary to what its name might imply, a blue moon refers to the second full moon of a calendar month rather than the colour blue. A second full moon, which happens around once every two or three years, is quite an unusual occurrence because most months only have one full moon.
The moon rises at around 8.45 p.m. and sets at approximately 6.30 a.m. the following day. It seems bigger than normal.
At 2.35am on Friday, the moon reaches its fullest phase, when the sun totally illuminates its near side. However, people who might not be able to remain up until the wee hours of the morning shouldn't worry about the event because, according to experts, it won't change much at night.
Instead, the greatest moment to get a peek is when your local environment is most conducive to a clear sky, such as when there are few clouds, good weather, and no horizonal barriers like structures or trees.
Professor Don Pollacco, an astronomer at the University of Warwick's Department of Physics, said: “One of nature's quirks is that the moon's apparent size may sometimes be quite close to the suns."
While the moon is smaller than the sun, it is also considerably closer to the Earth, which explains why this happens.
He continued: “Now that we understand the Moon's orbit around the Earth, we can talk about supermoons. The moon has an elliptical orbit around the Earth.”
These happen when the moon is full and is at its closest to the Earth.
“As a result, the moon may appear larger (10–15%) and brighter (25–30%) than a typical full moon.”
“Look east after sunset to observe the full moon, said Prof. Pollacco. Its ought should be evident if your horizon is unobstructed.”
“The moon is so brilliant that even when it's not extremely dark or clear outside, we can still see it.”
“It will be visible all night and set in the west around sunrise.”