May 2026 Has Two Moons: How To See Blue And Flower Moons

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:

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, while our calendar years have 365 days (except for leap years), 12 cycles of the moon take about 354 days. That’s a decent amount of leftover days.

As a result, every two to three years, we experience a 13th moon. This is called a “blue” moon, because unlike our regular moons, which are all called things like the “flower”, “blood”, and “wolf” moons, they aren’t named.

In 2018, we had two blue moons in a single year, a phenomenon not expected to happen again until 2037.

The last blue moon took place in August 2024, and the next one is set for May 2027.

As if that wasn’t enough information to take in, there are two kinds of blue moon: seasonal and monthly.

This May’s blue moon is a monthly blue moon. That means it’s the second full moon in a single month. Monthly blue moons are a newer phenomenon: the definition came about in 1946.

Monthly moons are technically “astronomically incorrect,” BBC Sky At Night Magazine explained, though this definition is the most common today. They were accidentally invented because James Hugh Pruett misunderstood some dates in a farmer’s almanack.

But 2027′s blue moon will be a seasonal blue moon, which is a much older term.

These relate to the astronomical season, which is marked by solstices and equinoxes; the period between a solstice and an equinox is an astronomical season.

Most of the time, these only get three moons, but sometimes, because the moon cycles aren’t perfectly aligned with these seasons, we get four.

A seasonal blue moon is the third moon in an astronomical season of four moons.

The next monthly blue moon will be on December 31, 2028.

This will rise at 6:23pm in the UK on Friday, May 1.

It’ll be visible in any dark, relatively clear sky throughout the night. And while some cloud cover is predicted, experts think this’ll be “patchy” – meaning catching the “micromoon” could be a waiting game.

It’ll rise on Sunday, May 31.

Like the flower moon, it should be visible in clear, dark skies.