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Rare New Year's Eve Blue Moon Fills Night Sky

By Nicole Bode | December 31, 2009 9:12pm | Updated on December 31, 2009 9:41pm

MANHATTAN — New Years Eve partiers have another reason to celebrate tonight, as a rare blue moon fills up the night sky.

The blue moon — defined as the rare occasion when there are two full moons in the same month, not because the moon actually turns blue — only happens once every 21/2 to 3 years or so, according to astronomy experts.

But it’s even more unusual for the blue moon to fall on New Year’s Eve, a coincidence that only happens every two decades or so, experts said. The last blue moon on New Year’s Eve was in 1990.