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Saturday's blue moon will be the last until 2020

Posted at 6:39 AM, Mar 28, 2018
and last updated 2018-03-28 11:55:57-04

Saturday will mark the last time this decade we'll be able to see a blue moon, according to the Weather Channel.

A blue moon actually has nothing to do with color —it simply means there have been two full moons in the same calendar month. A full moon occurs once every 29.5 days, so blue moons occur sporadically — about once every two-and-a-half years.

When the full moon peaks at 8:37 ET on Saturday, it will mark the second full moon this month. The first full moon occurred on March 2. 

Take a good look, because it will be awhile before we see one again —Oct. 31, 2020, to be exact.

It will actually be the second time this year we've experienced a blue moon. January also saw two blue moons — the first on Jan. 2, the second Jan. 31.

2018 marks the first time since 1999 we've seen two blue moons in a single year. It's a phenomena that won't happen again until 2037.

Alex Hider is a writer for the E.W. Scripps National Desk. Follow him on Twitter @alexhider.