By Buffy Calvert

In December we in the West experienced 2 full moons, on the 1^st and 31^st. (Asia and Africa and Australia’s two full moons appeared in January, the 1^st and 31^st.) The second full moon in a month is called a Blue Moon, and, of course, we all call a rare event “something that happens once in a blue moon.” How rare is a blue moon?

In the next few years we can revel in just two: August 2^nd and 31^st, 2012 and July 2^nd and July 31^st in 2015.