Take time to gaze at the stars

Published 7:00 am Thursday, July 30, 2015

It seems as though there’s never enough time to sit back and enjoy the place we call home. Between work and the 99 things we have to accomplish on a daily basis, we forget how small we are compared to the universe around us. This Friday, take a moment to witness something miraculous that will make all your problems go away, at least for a little while.

The blue moon, which will make its debut on Friday, takes the expression “once in a blue moon” to an astronomical level. The second full moon in a month is often referred to as a blue moon. It’s described as “the third full moon in an astronomical season in which four full moons fall,” according to the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington.

The phenomenon occurs once every three years.

Sign up for our daily email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

But don’t expect to see a blue moon by literal standards. The full moon will appear like any other, except brighter and may give off only a hint of blue.

Avid stargazers can also expect to see the Delta Aquarid meteor shower passing through the atmosphere the next couple of nights. The best time to watch the meteor shower is between midnight and just before dawn.

The universe is truly miraculous, where seemingly unexplainable things occur on a daily basis.

Just by looking up at the stars once in a blue moon you can see there’s so much more than our little world. It surely puts things into perspective.

While we may stress about trivial matters like landing that dream job or getting straight A’s in college, in the end, it’s all rather small compared to everything else out there that we can barely understand.

Look up at the twinkling night sky when you can and thank your lucky stars you have a place to call home in the universe.