Blue moon 2023: When is the best time to view in Philadelphia area?
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- You tend to use the phrase "once in a blue moon" to mean something that hardly ever happens. Well, a blue moon is about to rise Wednesday night.
A blue moon is not actually the color blue; it just means it's the second full moon in the same calendar month.
This blue moon comes after the rare "Sturgeon Moon" rose on Aug. 1.
When to view blue moon in Philadelphia area
If you want to view the 2023 blue moon in the Philadelphia area, Hurricane Idalia's clouds might make things difficult.
We should be able to see it Wednesday evening, but high clouds from Idalia will likely be streaming in overnight into Thursday.
Sunset Wednesday is at 7:35 p.m. and the full moon will start to rise at 7:48 p.m. Skies should be generally clear at this time.
Through the night and as the moon moves higher into the sky, high clouds will be increasing from the south, which could obstruct the view of the moon, especially by early Thursday morning.
You can see on this radar projection that the clouds have increased.
So the main takeaway? If you want to see the blue moon, your best chance is to look outside right after sunset Wednesday night.
The last of the four consecutive supermoons this year will be the Sept. 28 "Harvest Moon."