(Photo: Reuters / Nir Elias)A shadow falls on the moon as it undergoes a total lunar eclipse as seen from Jerusalem June 15, 2011.On Friday, stargazers will be treated to a rare "blue moon" which will be the last one to occur until 2015 and will be broadcast for all to see.
The event also happens to fall on the same day as Neil Armstrong's funeral. Armstrong died on Aug. 25 at the age of 82.
To honor the space traveling legend, web-based Slooh Space Camera will be broadcasting live video of the event online.
"This Blue Moon that Slooh will explore Friday night is somewhat rare, but not as rare as the courage and talent of the late Neil Armstrong, the first human to set foot on our nearest celestial neighbor," astronomer Bob Berman, Slooh editor and a columnist at Astronomy Magazine, said in a statement.
Slooh's program will also feature live shots of the moon from an observatory in the Canary Islands, Slooh officials said.
"To honor him, Slooh will explore the Sea of Tranquility with its Canary Island 20-inch telescope, live, and have guests who will reveal some of the lesser-known secrets of that historic 1969 event. I think many of our visitors will be in for quite a surprise," Berman added.
While the moon does not change colors, the term began as a reference to a rare occurrence. Reports indicate that in 1946, Sky and Telescope magazine was able to uncover the term in an edition of the Maine Farmer's Almanac, where it was used to refer the frequency of full moons within any given season.
Since the year is divided into four equal seasons spanning 91 or 92 days long and because there are 29.5 days between full moons, sometimes a fourth full moon appears within a seasonal cycle that typically has only three.
A live stream can be watched by clicking here.
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