Be Sure To Check Out Halloween's Rare Blue Moon Tonight

Halloween is here, and while the pandemic has messed up trick-or-treating for most people around the country, there is one treat that you can enjoy tonight. We mentioned a while back that tonight is a rare Blue Moon. A Blue Moon is the second full moon in a single month.

It's rare to simply have a full moon on Halloween, with the event happening only once every 19 years. This marks the first time since 1944 that Halloween has lined up with a Blue Moon. Moonrise is expected to happen tonight between 5:50 and 6:40 PM local time across most of the country. There will be some variation depending on time zones, latitude, and position.

As Halloween night begins, the moon will be visible at the horizon, and as the night carries on, it will rise and shine brighter. Much of the country will have skies clear enough to view the blue moon. However, trick-or-treaters in some Eastern states, including New Jersey, New York, and part of New England, and some in the Pacific Northwest and central Minnesota area are expected to have cloud cover.

The first full moon of October happened earlier in the month and was known as the Harvest Moon. The Harvest Moon is the first full moon after the September equinox. Sometimes the Blue Moon is known as the Beaver Moon and happens as a routine coincidence related to the Gregorian calendar.

Other interesting tidbits about tonight's full moon include that it's technically a Micro Moon because the moon is currently at the farthest point in its orbit from Earth at about 31,000 miles away. Despite the extra distance from the Earth, it will only be slightly smaller than a Super Moon, which is when the moon is the closest to Earth.