Blue Moon Ends the Month

About every two-and-a-half years, there are two full moons within one month, and August 2012 happens to be one of those rare months.

At about 7:32 p.m. today, a full moon will rise over the area, according to timeanddate.com. The first full moon of the month shone on Aug. 1. Friday's forecast predicts partly sunny skies during the day, turning partly cloudy Friday night.

August's second full moon is a blue moon, the name that has come to mean the second full moon in a month.

Tonight's occurrence is poignant, as the funeral for Neil Armstrong is today. Armstrong, of course, was the first person to walk on the moon. His footprints remain there today.

Many Native American tribes tracked the seasons by naming each of the recurring full moons. August's annual moon is traditionally called the Full Sturgeon Moon. "Some Native American tribes knew that the sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most readily caught during this full Moon," reports The Old Farmers' Almanac.

Other tribes called it the Green Corn Moon or the Grain Moon.

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