A Blue Moon for the New Year's Eve

A "blue moon" will be upon us this coming New Year's eve in what Old English mystics believed to show the light of the "betrayer" while some early alternative interpretations referenced the blue moon as references to absurdities and impossibilities such as the Moon is made of cheese. In folklore some have said the moon had a face and talked to those in its light, perhaps it does to some at least in music.

But in modern science, a blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern but it is a rare event usually caused by smoke or dust particles in the Earth's atmosphere. Specifically, a blue moon is a second full moon in a calendar month.

Two full moons in the same calendar month happens about every 2.7 years. The exact time of full moon is 2:13 p.m. Dec. 31, or about three hours before its 5:16 p.m. rise time for those who take an outside stroll evening/night hike into the Blue Moon New Year.