Rare Black Moon to Rise This Weekend: What You Need to Know

A rare 'black moon', which is the second new moon in an astronomical season, will occur on August 23, providing darker skies for stargazing and observing the Perseid meteor shower. This phenomenon happens roughly every 33 months and is not visible to the naked eye, as it is a new moon, when the moon is between Earth and the sun. Black moons are defined either as a second new moon in a calendar month or the third in a season with four new moons, due to the mismatch between lunar cycles and calendar or seasonal lengths.