As if you haven’t heard by now, there will be a “blue moon” tomorrow night, New Year’s Eve. I think a full moon on New Year’s Eve is pretty cool anyway, but what makes this full moon a “blue moon,” of course, is that it is the second full moon of the calendar month, December in this case.

Every full moon has a name based on the month it appears, “blue moon” being the name if a second full moon occurs. Traditional names for a December moon are “cold moon” and “long nights moon,” according to the Farmer’s Almanac. There have been many names for the moons of the year, given by different cultures. The Choctaw, for example, called the December moon the “peach moon.” You’d have to ask them why. Most are more obvious, such as “brass monkey moon.”