Once In a Blue Moon

The moon; that pearly orb in our night sky which is about as familiar as anything gets. It's common yet notable presence has influenced culture since the beginning of human history. The moon has proven itself to be an object of attraction; through art, religion, even the calendar we coordinate our daily lives on. The waxing and waning cycle of the moon spans the length of one month. Keeping pace with the moon seems like a good way to keep track of things. The presence of the always-changing moon has become a very ordinary phenomenon. However every so often there is a rare happening in our familiar skies. This past August, Friday the 31st, we had a Blue Moon. The name of this event isn't exactly literal. It means that two full moons occur in the same month. This might not be as exciting as the moon changing color (which will only happen during a massive volcanic explosion or after an atmosphere altering bomb has gone off), but a Blue Moon will only happen every few years. Many things you can witness on the planet are dependent on the moon's cycle. For example the tides in water, and even animal behavior. This being said, a change in the moon's natural cycle could imply an odd occurrence among the rest of nature. Or more likely a scheduling fault in the human calendar. Either way, displaced events like this don't happen often. The next Blue Moon is predicted to be on July 2nd of 2015, so remember to take a good look at the sky that night!