Tonight’s new moon—the second new moon in a month—is going to be what scientists call a black moon. These rare moon types are similar to blue moons—which occur when two full moons happen in one calendar month. Black moons, though, can occur in a few different instances.
Unlike the blue moon, which doesn’t actually appear blue at all, these rare moons are exactly what it sounds like. That’s because new moons are already almost invisible in the night sky. This makes it a great time to go stargazing, as the brightness of the moon won’t overshadow any of the stars in the night sky.
If you’re in the Americas, then you’ll be able to witness this rare black moon on December 30, when the new moon begins its rise around 5:26 p.m. EST. If you’re in Europe, Africa, or Asia, then it’ll be visible on December 31.
Just like there are two definitions for blue moons, there are also two definitions for this rare new moon occurrence. The first is what we’ll get to see tonight—when a second new moon occurs in a calendar month.
However, the second type is what we call a seasonal black moon. These occur whenever four new moons happen within a season. When that happens, the third new moon of the season is called a black moon. As far as moons go, these are exceptionally rare.
In fact, the most common type of black moon only occurs once every 29 months or so, TimeandDate reports. The last of these seasonal black moons happened in May 2023, and the next isn’t expected until August 2025. Meanwhile, the last monthly black moon was in April 2022, and the next one after this isn’t expected until August 2027.
That means you’ll have quite a while to wait until another moon like this graces our skies again. As such, I highly recommend heading outside and getting a glimpse of this rare and beautiful cosmic event while it’s here.
