Rare Halloween Blue Moon Will End Month Of Celestial Shows In NYC

NEW YORK CITY – Halloween is going to be lit up by a blue moon.

The event, which doesn't actually turn the orb blue but is the name given for the second full moon of the month, happens on Oct. 31.

Sandwiched between October’s two full moons — the first was on Oct. 1 — are three meteor showers, including one that’s known for spitting fire. Halloween's full moon will appear large over the horizon and may be more orange, though it's not considered a supermoon.

Instead, the Old Farmer’s Almanac says, it’s a “moon illusion,” explaining that “when the moon is low, it is viewed in relation to earthly objects, such as chimneys and trees, whose size and shape provide scale.”

The brain makes comparisons of the moon on the size of the other objects the eye sees, “and suddenly, the moon looks massive,” the Old Farmer's Almanac says.

The full Halloween blue moon is a rare occurrence.

Halloween full moons occur every 19 years in what’s known as a Metonic cycle, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, and it won’t happen again until 2039.

But a blue moon on Halloween? That only happens three or four times in a century.

It comes the night before Americans “fall back” with the end of daylight saving time — that’s at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1.

October’s sky calendar also has three fall meteor showers to keep an eye on.

The first, the Draconid meteor shower, runs Oct. 6-10, peaking the evening of Oct. 7. This is one of only a couple of meteor showers best viewed starting at early nightfall. A nearly full moon won’t rise until mid-to-late evening, so that should give a few hours to wish upon a falling star without lunar interference.

The Draconids are typically a modest shower with only about 10 shooting stars an hour. But occasionally, Draco the Dragon — the radiant point of the shower — awakens and breathes fire in what’s called an outburst.

That happened two years ago over Europe, when the Draconids’ parent comet, 21P/Giacobini-Zinner, made its closest approach to Earth in 72 years. And in 1933 and 1946, Draco spit out thousands of meteors.

The stars don’t appear aligned for an outburst this year, although nothing’s ever certain when it comes to meteor showers.

The Orionid meteor shower runs from Oct. 2 to Nov. 7, peaking around Oct. 21-22. The Orionids reliably produce around 20 meteors an hour during the peak. Viewing is best after midnight, and a crescent moon will have set before then.

The ancient shower is produced by dust grains left behind by the comet Halley. The meteors appear to radiate from the constellation Orion but can be seen anywhere in the sky.

The long-running Taurid meteor shower, active for longer than any other meteor shower of the year, runs from Sept. 7 to Dec. 10, peaking around Nov. 4-5. It's not particularly prolific, producing only five or 10 shooting stars an hour.

What makes this shooting star show unusual is that the meteors come from separate debris streams — dust grains left behind Asteroid 2004 TG10 and debris from Comet 2P Encke. A first-quarter moon at the shower's peak may block out all but the brightest meteors. After midnight is the best time to look for meteors, which radiate from the constellation Taurus but can be seen anywhere in the sky.