Once in a blue moon...

First of all...HAPPY NEW YEAR!!! Hopefully your enjoying the warm (although a bit messy) weather tonight. Unfortunately for us living here in the Kawarthas, this messy weather is actually hiding a nice a little astronomical treat to put a wrap on 2009. Have you ever heard the expression "once in a blue moon." Well that's what we're missing tonight, thanks to these cloudy conditions. Although a moon can at times appear blue due to ice or dust in the atmosphere filtering out the longer wave lengths of light (leaving just the short waves), that old adage has more to do with the occurrence of this phenomenon. A "blue moon" literally refers to a second full moon in one month. This happens approximately once every 2.5 years. So how rare is a blue moon on New Year's Eve? Well the last time this occured was in 1990. So when you're toasting the new year tonight do keep an eye to the sky and hopefully you'll catch a glimpse of something that only occurs "once in a blue moon."