\u201cA blue moon is not an astronomical event,\u201d explains Dr Laura Driesden, Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Radio Transients at the Sydney Institute for Astronomy. \u201cIt is just about how the lunar month doesn\u2019t fit perfectly into a calendar year.\u201d<\/p>\n
It might not have huge astronomical relevance, but astrologically, Blue Moons are considered a perfect time to cast manifestations<\/a> and \u201creset\u201d psychologically and spiritually.<\/p>\n The Blue Moon reaches peak fullness on May 31 at approximately 6:45pm AEST \u2014 and astrologically, it arrives in Sagittarius, the zodiac sign associated with truth, expansion, restlessness, and the urge to look beyond your current horizon.<\/p>\n Below, find everything you need to know. <\/p>\n May 31st Full Blue Moon Fast Facts <\/p>\n Date: Saturday-Sunday, May 31<\/p>\n Peak Illumination: Sunday, May 31<\/p>\n Best Viewing Time In Australia: Sunday, May 31 at 6:45pm AEST<\/p>\n Where To See It: Across Australia in areas with low artificial light <\/p>\n Zodiac Sign: Sagittarius <\/p>\n Spiritual Meaning: Perspective shifts, expansion, adventure and release <\/p>\n When Is The Blue Moon In Australia?<\/p>\n The Blue Moon reaches peak illumination on Sunday, May 31, at approximately 6:45 pm AEST, with the best viewing occurring shortly after sunset.<\/p>\n State\/Territory Best Viewing Time New South Wales 6:45pm AEST Victoria 6:45pm AESTQueensland 6:45pm AESTAustralian Capital Territory 6:45pm AESTTasmania 6:45pm AESTSouth Australia 6:15pm ACST Northern Territory 6:15pm ACSTWestern Australia 4:45pm AWST <\/p>\n For the best viewing experience, head somewhere with minimal light pollution, find a clear view of the eastern horizon, and try to catch the moon as it rises. This is when it will look most dramatic. If the weather is cloudy on Sunday night, the moon will still appear full on Saturday and Monday night, so don\u2019t despair.<\/p>\n Tips for viewing: <\/p>\n Get out of the city: The moon is far more striking in areas of low light pollution. A short drive to an area with low light, whether a clifftop, park, or beach, will improve your view.<\/p>\n Face east or south-east: the blue moon will rise across the northern part of the sky before setting in the west-south-west. <\/p>\n Give your eyes 20 minutes to adjust: always allow your eyes to adjust to the dark before scanning the sky for the moon<\/p>\n Photographing: A phone with night or portrait mode will capture the blue moon at its best. <\/p>\n What Is A Blue Moon? <\/p>\n You\u2019d be forgiven for associating the blue moon with a colour; the phenomenon is actually a quirk of the calendar. The moon completes an orbit around Earth roughly every 29.5 days \u2014 which means lunar cycles don\u2019t line up perfectly with our 365-day year. Occasionally, that mismatch gives us an \u201cextra\u201d full moon.<\/p>\n \u201cA blue moon is not an astronomical event,\u201d Dr Driesden explains. \u201cIt is just about how the lunar month doesn\u2019t fit perfectly into a calendar year.\u201d There are four seasons in a year, the boundaries of these seasons are the summer and winter solstices<\/a> and the two equinoxes. \u201cBetween a solstice and an equinox, one season, we typically get three full moons and each of those has a name,\u201d Driesden says.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery now and then there\u2019s a fourth full moon in a season,\u201d Dr Driesden says. \u201cWhen that happens, the first, second and fourth full moons keep their original names and the third gets called a blue moon.\u201d<\/p>\n There are actually two kinds of Blue Moons: seasonal and calendar Blue Moons. The May 31 moon is a calendar Blue Moon, meaning it\u2019s the second full moon to occur within a single month. The term itself is surprisingly modern. Its current usage dates back to the 1930s and was later popularised through references in the Maine Farmer\u2019s Almanac (different to The Old Farmer\u2019s Almanac). The previous calendar Blue Moon occurred on August 31, 2023, while the next will arrive on December 31, 2028.<\/p>\n Why Is This Blue Moon Also A Micromoon?<\/p>\n This weekend\u2019s full moon is also what astronomers call a micromoon. The Moon\u2019s orbit around Earth isn\u2019t perfectly circular \u2014 it\u2019s slightly oval. That means there are moments when the Moon sits slightly closer to Earth (perigee) and moments when it drifts farther away (apogee).<\/p>\n A supermoon happens when a full moon coincides with perigee. A micromoon happens when a full moon occurs near apogee \u2014 the Moon\u2019s furthest point from Earth.\u201cIt sounds dramatic, but the human eye usually can\u2019t tell the difference,\u201d Dr Driesden explains. \u201cUnless you have a side-by-side comparison, a micromoon looks very similar to any other full moon.\u201d Ironically, the moon may actually appear larger than usual as it rises. \u201cIf you watch the full moon rise, you\u2019ll notice it looks bigger when it\u2019s close to the horizon,\u201d Dr Driesden says. \u201cThat\u2019s called the Moon Illusion and it\u2019s something our brains do.\u201d<\/p>\n Our next micromoon will be a blue moon (Getty).<\/p>\n What Is The Spiritual Meaning Of The Blue Moon? <\/p>\n Astrologically, this Blue Moon arrives in Sagittarius: the zodiac\u2019s philosopher, traveller, and truth-seeker. Spiritually, astrologers associate the Full Moon in Sagittarius with perspective shifts, revelation, and the urge to break beyond old limitations. Sagittarius energy is expansive and future-focused, linked to higher learning, freedom, travel, and asking bigger questions about the direction of your life.<\/p>\n While full moons are traditionally associated with culmination and release, Sagittarius adds momentum. This isn\u2019t necessarily a soft or introspective moon \u2014 it\u2019s one that pushes you outward and forward. You might feel sudden clarity after a period of confusion, the sudden urge to book a flight or the feeling that your world has become too small.\u00a0It can also provide a reset as we reach the midpoint of 2026 after an emotionally intense astrological five months. Essentially, it\u2019s time to think big.\u00a0<\/p>\n When Is The Next Blue Moon?<\/p>\n According to Time and Date, the next Blue Moon will occur on May 20, 2027. <\/p>\n When Is The Next Full Moon? <\/p>\n Next month, the full moon (a \u201cStrawberry Moon\u201d) will rise on June 30, 2026. <\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t\tSenior Writer, Fashion + Beauty\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n Sign up for our newsletter<\/p>\n Sign up for the latest news from ELLE including offers and discounts we choose to share with you<\/p>\n By joining, you agree to our Privacy Policy<\/a> & Terms of Use<\/a><\/p>\n About your privacy Are Media Pty Limited collects your personal information through this site to process registrations, send out newsletters, communicate offers, discounts, competitions, or surveys, and to provide you with targeted advertising based on your online activities. Our Privacy Policy<\/a> contains information on how you can access or correct your personal information, which entities we may disclose your personal information to (including overseas recipients), how to opt out of targeted advertising, and how to lodge a complaint.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"THE RUNDOWN The May Full Moon will rise on May 31, 2026 at 6:45pm AEST. Today\u2019s moon is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":707337,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[64,63,57832,128,285],"class_list":["post-707336","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-full-moon","tag-science","tag-space"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707336","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=707336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/707336\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/707337"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=707336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=707336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=707336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Full](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/1688345151989_july-supermoon.jpg\")
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tRuby Feneley\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n