A Blue Moon is when there are two full moons in one month. Usually, the moon orbits our planet every 29, 5 days, which means less than our usual calendar month.
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The weather forecast for Friday is now partially cloudy so there should be plenty of gaps to catch a glimpse of the second full moon of July. Why is it that on some evenings we see no moon at all?
A Blue Moon is when there are two full moons in one month, a rare occurrence, hence the phrase once in a blue moon. First quarter: A week into the phase cycle we have a first quarter moon.
Last quarter moon: About 21 days after the new moon, we see a last quarter moon.
Surely everybody has heard the expression “once in a blue moon” at least once in their lives and so, everybody knows that it refers to something very special and something very rare, that only comes along once in a long period of time. This is a great time to see a phenomenon called “Earthshine”. The moon will certainly not be blue in color, disappointingly enough, but it will be the first since August 31st, 2012. It turned the moon blue or, sometimes even green, as it lifted up into Earth’s atmosphere and mixed with the light. As white beam from the moon pass through the cloud particles, it appears to be color blue. It will also might incur the wrath of those who have made promises of “once in a blue moon” without scientific knowledge of how often the event even occurs.
However, the promised concept of a blue moon is indeed possible.
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Eruptions like on Mt. Krakatoa, Indonesia (1883), El Chichon, Mexico (1983), Mt. St. Helens (1980) and Mount Pinatubo (1991) are all known to have caused blue moons. The Earth, moon and sun are at a right angle to each other. The article had cited Maine Farmers” Almanac, which used the term “blue moon’ in tracking lunar cycles. In either case, a blue moon is always a full moon. Interestingly, the original definition was different than the periodical’s interpretation.
