On the cover: Calling the second full Moon in a calendar month a "blue Moon" probably originated several centuries ago. (JPL)

This is a rare year for blue Moons. We have two of them in 1999 — one on January 31 and one this month on the 31st. February had no full Moons at all. The Moon is full every 29 and a half days, so it's possible to squeeze two full Moons into any month except February. On average, though, there's only one blue Moon every 33 months. We'll have another two blue Moon year in 2018.

'Scope Floats
Up, up, and away to the edge of the universe with balloon astronomy.

Cracking a Stellar Mystery
Space never ceases to amaze with its collection of oddities and rare occurences. The next time you stick a photo on your fridge with a magnet, take a moment to think about its big cousin more than a trillion times stronger. McDonald Observatory astronomer Robert Duncan has been thinking a lot lately about the strongest magnets in the universe, a supermagnetized neutron star called a magnetar. His theory on how such unusual stars form and emit tremendous amounts of energy may have solved a long-standing stellar mystery. Duncan explains how it happened starting on page 4.

AstroPrimer
If you need a refresher course on stars before tackling magnetars, take a look at our new "AstroPrimer" column. We'll have a lesson in astronomy from a McDonald Observatory astronomer on page 15 of every issue. This month, Observatory Director Frank Bash explains How Stars Work.

AstroNews
Complete list of confirmed extrasolar planets, superflares, calling ET, galactic ghosts.

Read archived news from StarDate magazine in the Resources section.

Every issue of StarDate also includes monthly star charts and stargazing highlights, plus stunning astronomical images.

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