The proverbial 'once in a blue moon' phenomenal occurrence is on the cards this Thursday, December 31 - the New Year's Eve - which will mark the second full moon for the month, after the first full moon on December 2!

According to stargazing astronomers, the New Year 2010 will be ushered in alongside a genuine 'blue moon.' And, as per the prediction of astronomer David Reneke of Australasian Science magazine, the next 'blue moon' New Year's Eve will likely occur only by 2028.

Noting that the 'once in a blue moon' adage is not associated with the color of the moon alone, Conrad Jung, a staff astronomer at Oakland's Chabot Space & Science Center, said" It's just a colloquial term, which means very, very rare. It's not so much a phenomenon, but an event of timing."

The astronomers also clarified that while the two-full-moons-in-a-month occurrence is not as rare as most people might expect it to be - it occurs once in every thirty months; the last being June
2007 - the 'blue moon' this time round will be the first to light up the night sky on New Year's Eve since 1990.

The 'blue moon' New Year's Eve is considered to be special and it is generally associated with crazier-than-usual-behavior among revelers. Moreover, as per an urban myth, the 'blue moon' New Year's Eve contributes to the achievement of any incredibly ambitious or wondrously fanciful goals!