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The next full moon is what's called a Blue Moon -- or the second full moon in a calendar month. It won't actually appear blue, but that's happened in the past. (NASA)
The next full moon is no ordinary moon. It will be what's called a blue moon.
It won't actually appear to be blue, although that has happened in the past. According to the modern definition a blue moon is actually the second full moon in a calendar month. Read more about that here.
(The first full moon in July, also called the Full Buck Moon, was on July 2. According to the Farmer's Almanac July's full moon is also sometimes called a Thunder Moon, because of the frequency of thunderstorms in the summertime.)
The next full moon will be on Friday, but you might want to get a look at it Thursday night. That's because the moon will hit its peak fullness at 5:42 a.m. CDT on Friday morning.
That's also close to moonset in certain parts of the country. For example, in Birmingham the moon will set on Friday morning at 6:11 a.m. In Huntsville moonset will be at 6:08 a.m., and in Mobile it will be at 6:20 a.m. on Friday.
The moon will rise on Thursday night just after 7 p.m. CDT in the locations mentioned above.
So where can you see it?
According to astronomers, the time of day that the Moon rises or sets depends on its phase. When the moon is full it is opposite the Earth from the sun, so when the sun sets, the moon rises (and vice versa).
Look for the moon on the eastern horizon just after moonrise. Then it will traverse the sky and set on the western horizon. It will be in the southern sky in between its rising and setting times.
This will be the last blue moon until Jan. 31, 2018. And there will actually be two blue moons that year. The second one will be in March. (After that, there won't be two blue moons in a year again until 2037, according to NASA.)
But you won't have to wait that long to see another lunar phenomenon: The full moon on Sept. 28 will be the closest supermoon of the year and will also feature a total lunar eclipse, according to EarthSky.
Here's more on blue moons from NASA: