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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Huckleberries Online

Blue Moon Rises Tonight

People are silhouetted against a rising full moon as they ride an attraction at Worlds of Fun amusement park Thursday in Kansas City, Mo. When the full moon appears at 6:43 a.m. EDT (1043 GMT) in the U.S. Friday, it will become the second full moon of July. Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory said the traditional definition of a blue moon is two full moons in a month.  (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)
People are silhouetted against a rising full moon as they ride an attraction at Worlds of Fun amusement park Thursday in Kansas City, Mo. When the full moon appears at 6:43 a.m. EDT (1043 GMT) in the U.S. Friday, it will become the second full moon of July. Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory said the traditional definition of a blue moon is two full moons in a month. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

The second full moon of July will rise tonight in the east around sunset in what has commonly become known as a “blue moon.” The first full moon this month was on July 2. The term blue moon was coined in 1946 by an astronomy writer who was trying to make sense out of an older and more complicated explanation of the term. NASA Science said that the moon doesn’t really turn color. However, the moon can appear blue through a haze of volcanic ash or wildfire smoke. The moon orbits Earth approximately every 29 days. Tonight’s full moon will be waning just a bit since the moon reached its fullest point before dawn today/Mike Prager, SR.

Question: Which song that contains the word "moon" in its title is your favorite?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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