Watch out for the blue moon today

KOLKATA: It''s a once-in-a-blue-moon occurrence. Individuals across the country will be able to watch the full moon once again on Saturday, the second such event in the same calendar month.
Termed ''Blue Moon'', the interesting and unusual cosmic event will take place after over two-and-a-half years.
"There is a difference of 29.5 days between two full moons and this makes it difficult and rather unusual for two full moons to be sighted within 30- or 31-day month," said M.P.Birla Planetarium director (research & academics) Debiprosad Duari. The last full moon was seen on July 2. Considered a "must see" — both for amateur and professional skygazers, the full moon can be viewed after 6 pm on Saturday until it sets the next morning around 4 pm. However, the moon will appear in its usual pearly white colour on the blue moon night. "The name has nothing to do with colour blue and should be viewed as just an interesting
cosmic event," said Duari.
According to Duari, the phenomenon may have got its name in 1883, when the full moon appeared twice in one month during the explosion of the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa. Dust covered the atmosphere and made the sunsets appear green and the moon appear blue. "The phenomenon has nothing to do with the colour blue and should be viewed as just an interesting cosmic event," said Duari. On other occasions too, skygazers have observed the blue moon caused due to rising dust storms and raging forest fires.
Said planetarium director R. Subramanian, "Such a cosmic event occurs once in two-and-a-half years. The last such occurrence happened in November 2001. The next blue moon will appear in June 2007, followed by December 2009."