Will the Moon actually turn blue? Adler Planetarium expert explains! | ChicagoLIVE

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]We might have the opportunity that some would say comes once in a blue moon. Uh let's go ahead and bring in our friends from Atler Planetarium here. So happy to see them any day, but especially on a Friday with this kind of rare event on tap. Michelle Nichols, director of public observing is joining us again.

[00:00:17]Thanks for coming back on the show.

[00:00:20]>> Thanks for having me.

[00:00:21]>> All right. Now, is this truly a blue moon that we're expecting?

[00:00:28]>> Yes. So is well it depends on on what you mean truly. Is the moon going to look blue? No. Um but the the phrase blue moon um originally meant something nonsensical. Um it has evolved to mean in the last few decades the second full moon in a calendar month. And so we had a a full moon at the beginning of May.

[00:00:55]We're getting one at the end of May. So that second one can be called a a calendar blue moon.

[00:01:01]>> Aha, great explanation. We're on to something here.

[00:01:05]>> Be um the exact time of full moon is about 3:45 in the morning uh Chicago time tomorrow morning. So tonight into tomorrow morning is when the moon will will look most full. So you don't have to go out at a specific time. Um just tonight would be good.

[00:01:25]>> Okay. because you scared me with 3:45. I was like, "Well, I guess I'll miss it.

[00:01:28]I'll see somebody's picture." [laughter] >> It's all right. I won't be up. I won't be up either.

[00:01:33]>> No, no, no, no. Um, so is there somewhere where we need to be um to to really see it?

[00:01:41]>> No, just somewhere that gives you a clear view of the horizon. The moon will rise if you want to see moonrise. I guess the answer is depending on which part of the sky you need the moon to be in. Um, if you want to see moonrise, it'll happen a little bit after 900 PM Chicago time tonight. Um, but depending on where people are, we have a lot of different terrain in this area. So, some some places have a lot of buildings or a lot of trees or just local obstructions.

[00:02:09]So, you might have to wait a little uh for the moon to be higher in the sky to be able to see it. Um, it's also a micro full moon. So the moon is at its farthest point uh in in uh its orbit around the earth and so it it will be a little bit smaller in the sky but I defy anyone to actually notice that. Um it's really almost impossible to tell. Um but it might look a little bit dimmer than than what you might think about. Um but again that might be subjective. It might be a little hard to tell.

[00:02:44]>> Okay. And be it that it's going to look smaller because it will be further. I'm seeing four planets should also be shining. Would we kind of get maybe confused to the novice eye? No, not at all. The moon will always look like the moon. Um when we say it looks a little bit smaller in the sky. Oh, that is a wonderful question. I love how you phrase that. Um the the moon will always look like the moon. It will always be the largest thing in our sky at night.

[00:03:15]Um, but the the planets will always look like dots, but the moon at most would be a little over 10% smaller. So, it's really not that much of a difference, but that that's an excellent way to put it. So, thank you for asking that question.

[00:03:33]>> Oh, of course. I'm I am very inquisitive about this. Well, inquisitive in general, but [laughter] so so um why is this so rare?

[00:03:45]>> So the the the calendar blue moon is kind of a quirk of our of our solarbased calendar. So we get 12 to 13 full moons in a in a calendar year. Um, the reason for that is the moon's orbit doesn't line up with how long it takes for the Earth to go around the sun. So, there's always an uh an odd number of days left over. And so, you get one of these calendar blue moons when we have it line up when you actually have enough days in the calendar month for that to happen. So, it actually occasionally can happen when you have one of these uh full moons happen and the month isn't long enough to get a full moon at the end of the month. So, we're looking at February for that. So, February of 2037, um, we're not going to have a a full moon at all in the calendar month because the two prior calendar or the the sorry, the calendar month before and the one after, both of those will have two full moons in a calendar month. So, you get uh these happening every two to three yearsish.

[00:05:03]Um, but it it doesn't always hold like clockwork. Wow.

[00:05:08]I'm my mind is like, you know, um that that's very interesting. Now, um th this situation of of the calendar months, um is this for you, for someone who like studies this stuff, you see it all the time, you're looking into it all the time. Um, is this this maybe the most spectacular site of the year to you or even maybe the year thus far or is there something else that has happened or that you know is coming up that you think will really be um, you know, the cat's meow?

[00:05:47]>> Wow, that's a fabulous question. Um, I would say it's an event that hasn't happened yet, but I'm always on the lookout for it, which is the chance to see another aurora. I I really want to see another one. Once you've seen one, you want to see more of them. Um, and our sun is kind of heading on the downward slide on its activity level, so it's going to be a little harder to see that. So, I I don't know when those are going to happen, if they're going to happen, but I'm always on the lookout for that kind of an opportunity. This sort of thing, I'm just fascinated by it because it's a quirk of the English language. It's a quirk of our calendar.

[00:06:31]It's a quirk of of the moon's orbit and the Earth's orbit around the Sun.

[00:06:35]There's so many things tied into this um that it's it's just kind of a fascinating thing to go, oh why why does that happen? So u so yeah, it's it's not spectacular from a sky observing standpoint. It's just a really interesting something in the sky connecting with people and how we perceive the world and divide it up in time.

[00:06:58]>> Is it one of those things that gets astrologers really going?

[00:07:02]Yeah, it gets it gets astrologers going, I bet. Um, so astronomers maybe not quite so much except for the, you know, moon's distance from the Earth kind of thing. Um, but yeah, but I bet the astrologers are going to have some fun tonight. [laughter] Um, let me ask you since I have you here. Um, you know, we had the, uh, Blue Origin rocket explosion that happened and I I would love to know your thoughts on um, something that serious taking place and especially, you know, coming off the heels of like the success of Artemis to have something like this happen. Uh, your thoughts?

[00:07:41]>> It's not good. um the the uh Blue Origin uh rockets, the New Glenn rockets, this was their only functional launchpad for those uh for those rockets. And now I'm waiting to hear what the damage assessment is, but at minimum, I would imagine it's going to be out of commission for many months. And Blue Origin was supposed to be launching some hardware to the moon. Um some some rovers and some other spacecraft and doing some tests and also eventually launching for Artemis 3 potentially launching the craft to test in Earth orbit that might land on the moon in Artemis 4. So this is pretty significant. Now how much of a setback this might be for Blue Origin and also for the Artemis program as a whole yet to be determined. Um but uh overall as soon as I saw that footage last night, I thought, "Oh no, this is terrible timing for this." Um so we'll see what kind of an impact and how wide ranging it'll be.

[00:08:47]>> I mean, it looked like something out of a movie. It it was just crazy.

[00:08:53]>> Yeah. Yeah. You normally don't see something like that happen. Now, it looked worse than I think people thought it might be. Um it was not uh I've seen some estimates. Biggest explosion on US soil ever >> or biggest non-nuclear uh explosion. And I don't think it was that big. There have been other industrial accidents, at least one, that might have been a little bit bigger. Um, still not good, but not quite that bad.

[00:09:26]>> Yeah. And we're what um the next the Artemis 3 mission crew is supposed to be announced June 9th.

[00:09:34]>> Yeah, that's what I heard, too. So, it'll be interesting to see if they still announce that. I I would imagine they're going to try to move forward as best they can. I mean, if SpaceX has their stuff ready to go next year, um, of course they'll test it. Um, so, you know, full steam ahead. Uh, it's just what will they be testing on Artemis 3?

[00:09:53]Will it include Blue Origins Craft?

[00:09:55]We'll see.

[00:09:57]>> Oh goodness. If I'm Oh, I don't know. If I'm one of those people who like wanted to be on the crew and I'm waiting for the announcement, then I'm like, do I really want to do I really want to hear my name in a couple weeks? Um, >> yeah. Yeah. Well, the good thing is they wouldn't be riding on that rocket. Yeah, [laughter] I guess you could say they would be launching on a space launch system rocket, the NASA rocket.

[00:10:20]Um, but still, it's it's just space flight is difficult. We know that. And rockets are some of the most difficult pieces of machinery ever built. The fact that any of them get off the ground is amazing. Um, but when a mishap happens, it happens pretty spectacularly. So fingers crossed that this won't be a huge setback.

[00:10:41]>> Fingers crossed for sure. Thank you so much for your time today as always and have a great weekend.

[00:10:47]>> Thank you. know you as well.