Tonight (July 31), a Blue Moon will rise on the same night as Blue Moon Brewing Co. celebrates its 20th anniversary with parties and events at more than 750 locations across the country.
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By its modern definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month, an astronomical phenomenon that occurs about once every 2.7 years. “Although I guess I’ve seen some cool photoshopped images before”, laughed Chris West.
Even so, “on rare occasions, the moon can turn [the color] blue“, according to the NASA video.
Under this old formula, the next blue moon will come in 2016. This weekend has seen the appearance of a blue moon. This isn’t about just any sort of love though – it’s about the kind of love that comes around only once in a blue moon.
The second-full-moon-of-the-month definition for blue moon is now commonly accepted in popular culture.
JA: There won’t be another blue moon for three years. “And there are reports of blue moons caused by Mount St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991”.
One of the fun things about writing this column is never knowing what direction it will take me. He’s the director of Space Science Outreach for UT and has actual moon rocks in his office. The dark blue tone of the evening sky is just also a human perception.
Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory told the Associated Press that the traditional definition of a blue moon is two full moons in a month. But historians say the idiom has been around for roughly 500 years. A total lunar eclipse is called a blood moon because the sun’s light is projected onto the moon and Earth’s atmosphere scatters blue light, letting the red light pass through to create a red hue.
Usually we only have one a month.
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On Friday morning at 6:43 am EDT, astronomy enthusiasts can witness a lunar event that takes place only once in a blue moon: a blue moon. They don’t happen all that often. But the second moon is not necessarily blue unless particles have spread into the atmosphere near you from volcanic eruptions or fires. “There’s no color change for it at all”, says Faherty. Ben Birchall/PA Wire REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz The effect known as Blue Moon is seen next to the Statue of Liberty in New York July 31, 2015. “But enjoy it. Look up and enjoy nature as it passes overhead”, said Lewis. As a result, that 11-day difference starts to add up until we end up with 13 full moons in a calendar year.
