By Nolan Feeney
Blue moons aren’t actually blue, but they are as rare as the saying goes.
The second full moon in a month is commonly referred to as a blue moon—we had a full moon on July 2, and we’ll have another this Friday on July 31—but there’s a more complicated definition according to the U.S. Naval Observatory:
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Write to Nolan Feeney at nolan.feeney@time.com