Full Long Night Moon

Blue Moon Will Usher in 2010
Posted Dec 29th 2009 3:30PM by Jeanne Sager


New Year's Eve will coincide with the rare blue moon this year.
Credit: Getty Images
New Year's Eve comes just once a year, but even more rare is a New Year's Eve blue moon.

The year will close out with a full moon -- but making it more special is the fact that this is the second full moon to show up in the month of December, the official NASA definition for a "blue moon." According to the government's space agency, a blue moon occurs once every two and a half years; the last was in June 2007.

The first full moon of December showed up on Dec. 2, and on Thursday night -- New Year's Eve -- the second will make its appearance, at 2:13 p.m. EST. According to the folks at Space.com, it has been named the "full long night moon."

Full moons happen monthly, and they're loaded with wives tales themselves, everything from a belief that a full moon forces women to go into labor to rumors of widespread criminal behavior. These myths have been largely debunked, but scientists have given credulity to the notion that a full moon can increase seizures.

Police may have scoffed at the idea that this will be a creepier New Year's Eve than any in the past, but if we hear somebody baying, we're headed for cover. Are you with us?

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Look what the Blue Moon made me do!