Learn what to look for in the night sky with today's Nerdy Curio from Stardate. To borrow from the great Yogi Berra, it’s like déjà vu all over again. The Moon will be full early tomorrow. As the second full Moon of the month, it’s a Blue Moon. And it’s the second Blue Moon this year.

That’s all thanks to the odd little month of February.

A full Moon happens every 29 and a half days. So it’s possible to have two full Moons during any month of the year except February. Likewise, February is the only month where it’s possible to have no full Moons.

This year, there were two full Moons in January, with the second coming on the morning of the 31st. Add 29 and a half days to that date, and you skip February and jump all the way to March 1st. And that means there’s time to squeeze a second full Moon into this month — at 7:37 a.m. Central Daylight Time tomorrow.

There are many names for full Moons. The March moon, for example, is known as the Sap Moon, Worm Moon, or Lenten Moon. Since there wasn’t a full Moon in February, the February names would apply to the first full Moon of this month, with the March names applying to the second.

Blue Moon has several meanings. It can mean the 13th full Moon in a calendar year or the fourth full Moon in a season. Under rare circumstances, the Moon can even look blue. And over the last quarter-century or so, it’s come to mean the second full Moon in a calendar month.

Whatever you call it, though, enjoy the full Moon as it lights up an early spring night.

Script by Damond Benningfield

Aired March 30, 2018

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