Skywatchers will be treated to a rare sight this month: a Blue Moon that is also a “micromoon.” It marks the first time since August 2023 that there have been two full moons in the same calendar month. Rising in the early morning hours of May 31, 29.5 days after May 1’s full Flower Moon, it will also be the smallest full moon of the year.
May’s rare Blue Moon will officially turn full at 4:45 a.m. on May 31. However, the best time to see it rise will be at dusk on May 30. The name has nothing to do with the moon’s color; from North America, it will appear in the southeast as a warm orange, not blue, thanks to a phenomenon called Rayleigh scattering.
