May 2026 Will Have Two Moons, And The Second Is A Rare Sight

May 2026 kicks off with a full “flower” moon. Because the moon is at its furthest point from the Earth – its apogee – this month’s lunar debut will be a smaller-looking “micromoon”. 

But this month will see two full moons, and the second is a rare “blue moon”. 

Here’s the date of both and how to catch them, as well as what a “blue moon” means:

What is a blue moon?

We usually get one full moon a month, or 12 a year.

But we get monthly “blue moons”, which is the kind that describes this May’s second moon, for roughly the same reason we get leap years: the maths isn’t exactly even.

There are different types of blue moons: more on that later.

Royal Museums Greenwich explained that the moon takes 29.5 days to complete all of its phases, while most months have 30 or 31 days. 

So,...