What is a Blue Moon?
[ad_1]
A “Blue Moon” is a fairly infrequent phenomenon involving the appearance of an additional full moon within a given period. But which period? It turns out there are two definitions of the term, and one was borne out of a misunderstanding of the other.
The older meaning defines a Blue Moon as the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. Called a seasonal Blue Moon, this occurs about every 2.5 years, according to NASA. More recently, the term Blue Moon has been applied to the second full moon within a single calendar month. There are roughly 29.5 days between full moons, making it unusual for two full moons to fit into a 30 or 31-day-long month. (This means that February will never have a Blue Moon.)
Which one is correct? Well, since language and the meaning of words constantly evolve — take your pick. Both are commonly used today and either definition is considered valid. As Texas astronomer Donald W. Olson wrote in a 2006 column for Sky & Telescope magazine, “With two decades of popular usage behind it, the second-full-moon-in-a-month (mis)interpretation is like a genie that can’t be forced back into its bottle. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.”
When is the next Blue Moon?
The next Blue Moon will be on Aug. 31, 2023, according to NASA. The next monthly Blue Moon (a second full moon that appears in a single month) will be Aug. 19, 2024, which will bring the third full moon of four during that summer. The last one was on Aug. 22, 2021. There was also seasonal Blue Moon on Saturday, May 18, 2019.
Related: Rare Blue Moon, the last until 2023, wows stargazers (photos)
Origin of the term
The phrase “once in a Blue Moon” has been around for more than 400 years, according to Philip Hiscock, a folklorist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. In a 2012 article in Sky & Telescope magazine, he explained that the earliest use of term was much like saying the moon is made of green cheese — it indicated something absurd. “He would argue that the moon is blue” was similar to saying, “He would argue that black is white.”
The meaning evolved to something akin to “never,” according to Hiscock. “I’ll marry you when the moon turns blue” became the equivalent of “I’ll marry you when pigs fly.”
“Most Blue Moons look pale gray and white, indistinguishable from any other moon you’ve ever seen,” according to NASA. “Squeezing a second full moon into a calendar month doesn’t change the physical properties of the moon itself, so the color remains the same.”
But, never say never. It turns out that the moon can appear bluish, as it did in 1883 after the volcano Krakatoa erupted. Dust in the air acted as a filter, causing sunsets and the moon to turn green and blue all over the world, an event that NASA said is thought to have spawned the phrase ”Blue Moon.” Other events such as forest fires and dust storms can cause the moon to turn blue.
So, the meaning of “once in a Blue Moon” changed from “never” to “rarely,” according to Hiscock.
When does a Blue Moon occur?
Now we get to the contradictory scheduling definitions of Blue Moon.
The seasonal definition for the term Blue Moon has been traced back to the August 1937 issue of the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, which explained that the moon “usually comes full 12 times in a year, three times for each season. Occasionally, however, there will come a year when there are 13 full moons during a year, not the usual 12. And that extra full moon also meant that one of the four seasons would contain four full moons instead of the usual three.”
The almanac followed certain rules for what to call each moon. For example, the last full moon of winter had to fall during Lent; it was called the Lenten Moon. The first full moon of spring was called the Egg Moon — or Easter Moon, or Paschal Moon — and had to fall within the week before Easter. There was also the Moon Before Yule and the Moon After Yule. So when a particular season had four moons, the third was dubbed a Blue Moon, so that the other full moons could occur at the proper times relative to the solstices and equinoxes.
But what about the definition that many people have heard — that a Blue Moon is the second full month in a single month? That came from a 1946 misinterpretation of the original definition, which was used as a source for a nationally syndicated radio program in 1980.
Additional resources:
[ad_2]
Original Post
Outstanding post, you have pointed out some superb details , I besides think this s a very fantastic website.
I conceive you have observed some very interesting details , thanks for the post.
Outstanding post, you have pointed out some good details , I too think this s a very wonderful website.
I like what you guys are up also. Such clever work and reporting! Keep up the superb works guys I have incorporated you guys to my blogroll. I think it’ll improve the value of my site 🙂
I am continuously searching online for ideas that can assist me. Thx!
I’d have to examine with you here. Which is not one thing I usually do! I take pleasure in reading a post that may make folks think. Additionally, thanks for permitting me to comment!
magnificent post, very informative. I wonder why the other experts of this sector do not notice this. You should continue your writing. I am confident, you have a great readers’ base already!
I am glad to be a visitor of this staring web blog! , appreciate it for this rare information! .
You could certainly see your expertise in the paintings you write. The sector hopes for more passionate writers such as you who are not afraid to mention how they believe. All the time go after your heart. “Until you’ve lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was.” by Margaret Mitchell.
Attractive section of content. I simply stumbled upon your website and in accession capital to say that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts. Anyway I will be subscribing on your augment and even I fulfillment you get entry to consistently quickly.
Hi! Do you know if they make any plugins to protect against hackers? I’m kinda paranoid about losing everything I’ve worked hard on. Any suggestions?
You are my intake, I have few web logs and often run out from brand :). “Analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog. Few people are interested and the frog dies of it.” by E. B. White.
I am really loving the theme/design of your weblog. Do you ever run into any browser compatibility issues? A small number of my blog readers have complained about my website not working correctly in Explorer but looks great in Firefox. Do you have any suggestions to help fix this problem?
I would like to thnkx for the efforts you have put in writing this blog. I am hoping the same high-grade blog post from you in the upcoming as well. In fact your creative writing abilities has inspired me to get my own blog now. Really the blogging is spreading its wings quickly. Your write up is a good example of it.
Nice post. I used to be checking constantly this blog and I’m inspired! Very useful information specially the remaining part 🙂 I care for such information much. I was looking for this particular information for a long time. Thanks and good luck.
Heya i am for the primary time here. I found this board and I find It really useful & it helped me out much. I hope to provide something back and aid others such as you aided me.
I think this is among the most important information for me. And i am glad reading your article. But should remark on few general things, The web site style is wonderful, the articles is really nice : D. Good job, cheers
I just could not depart your web site prior to suggesting that I actually enjoyed the standard info a person provide for your visitors? Is going to be back often in order to check up on new posts
you’ve gotten a fantastic weblog here! would you wish to make some invite posts on my weblog?
Thank you for the good writeup. It in fact was a amusement account it. Look advanced to far added agreeable from you! By the way, how could we communicate?
I am glad that I detected this blog, exactly the right information that I was looking for! .
Thanks for every other informative site. Where else may I get that type of information written in such a perfect means? I’ve a venture that I am just now working on, and I have been on the look out for such info.
Hi there very nice blog!! Man .. Beautiful .. Wonderful .. I will bookmark your site and take the feeds additionally…I am glad to find so many useful info right here in the put up, we need work out extra techniques in this regard, thanks for sharing.
Amazing! This blog looks just like my old one! It’s on a entirely different subject but it has pretty much the same page layout and design. Superb choice of colors!
An interesting discussion is worth comment. I think that you should write more on this topic, it might not be a taboo subject but generally people are not enough to speak on such topics. To the next. Cheers
Well I definitely liked reading it. This information provided by you is very effective for accurate planning.
Some really interesting info , well written and broadly user pleasant.
My developer is trying to convince me to move to .net from PHP. I have always disliked the idea because of the costs. But he’s tryiong none the less. I’ve been using WordPress on various websites for about a year and am anxious about switching to another platform. I have heard great things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can import all my wordpress content into it? Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Perfect piece of work you have done, this site is really cool with excellent information.
Yeah bookmaking this wasn’t a risky conclusion great post! .
I reckon something truly interesting about your site so I bookmarked.
I really enjoy reading through on this internet site, it holds great posts.
I like the efforts you have put in this, regards for all the great content.
Hello! Someone in my Facebook group shared this site with us so I came to give it a look. I’m definitely loving the information. I’m book-marking and will be tweeting this to my followers! Superb blog and excellent design.
naturally like your website but you have to test the spelling on quite a few of your posts. Several of them are rife with spelling problems and I in finding it very troublesome to inform the truth then again I will surely come again again.
Glad to be one of the visitors on this awing web site : D.
Hiya very nice website!! Guy .. Excellent .. Amazing .. I’ll bookmark your website and take the feeds additionally…I am happy to find numerous helpful information right here in the publish, we’d like develop extra strategies on this regard, thanks for sharing. . . . . .