blue moon

[harriet]

is there a blue moon over the U.K. tonight?

[Jim Colyer]

Blue moons are not so rare.

[talgirdas]

i've never seen blue moon here, in lithuania

[BMAONE23]

Blue Moon is a term used to describe the 2nd full moon in a single calendar month. If, during leap year, the full moon falls on Feb 1, then Feb 29th will be a Blue Moon.

[bystander]

Blue Moon is a term used to describe the 2nd full moon in a single calendar month. If, during leap year, the full moon falls on Feb 1, then Feb 29th will be a Blue Moon.

Actually, that was a misinterpretation of the Farmers Almanac in 1946 that became common usage. It was discovered to be erroneous in 1999. The original meaning from the Farmers Almanac is the third full moon within a season containing four. Another meaning is the 13th full moon within a year. Either will happen about every 2.72 years.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 04131.html
http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... 05141.html

There will be no Calendar Blue Moon this year as there are only 12 full moons this year (one per month). Using the Almanac seasonal definition, the full moon on Feb 21, 2008 was a Seasonal Blue Moon (winter started Dec 21, 2007). The last Triskaideka Blue Moon (13th in a year) was Dec 24, 2007.

http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/phase/phase2001gmt.html

[lightspeedsquared]

I thought a Blue Moon was two full moons in any calander month. We had two full moons ( a Blue Moon ) in June 2007. There may be different beliefs on this, But I spent a half year living and working at the Goldendale Observatory, and the town of Goldendale celebrated this event while I was there. Many Astronomers were present as well as a well known Astronaut. I have to believe this is correct.
Just for anyone who's interested.
Thank You and Dark Clear Skies to Everyone.

[lightspeedsquared]

BMAONE23, Your right in saying the second of two full moons in one month is the Blue Moon, except it happens every 2.72 years. If it happened in February Leap Year thats 28 days from the 1st to the 29th. In sidereal time
with respect to the still stars the moons orbit is 27.3 days. But, the moon phase to phase with respect to the Earth is 29.5 days. I don't think that fits in a 29 day month. In other words it takes 29.5 days to go full moon to full moon. It does happen every 2.72 years not just in February. 1/12th of a year
being 30.4 days, and a phase to phase moon cycle being 29.5 days it is just a mathematical thing, not a Leap Year February occurrence. 12- 29.5 day cycles in one year leaves us with 11 extra days in the year. In 2.72 years those 11 extra days add up to just over a 29.5 day moon phase to phase cycle. Thats why its every 2.72 years.
Jerry ( lightspeedsquared )

[bystander]

The Really Strange Story Behind Sunday's Blue Moon
Space.com | Skywatching | Joe Rao | 19 Nov 2010

[img3="A "blue moon" isn't really blue, as this artist rendering suggests. The moon can appear somewhat blue if there's been a major volcanic eruption that put tons of particles in the air, but otherwise blue moons refer to multiple full moons in certain time frames.
(Credit: Dreamstime)"]http://i.space.com/images/blue-moon-101119-02.jpg[/img3]

The full moon of November arrives on Sunday and will bring with it a cosmic addition: It will also be a so-called "blue moon."

"But wait a minute," you might ask. "Isn't a 'blue moon' defined as the second full moon that occurs during a calendar month? Sunday's full moon falls on Nov. 21 and it will be the only full moon in November 2010. So how can it be a 'blue' moon?"

Indeed, November's full moon is blue moon – but only if we follow a rule that's now somewhat obscure.

In fact, the current "two- full moons in one month" rule has superseded an older rule that would allow us to call Sunday's moon "blue." To be clear, the moon does not actually appear a blue color during a blue moon, it has to do with lunar mechanics.

Confused yet?

Well, as the late Paul Harvey used to say — here now, is the rest of the story:

The blue moon rule

Back in the July 1943 issue of Sky & Telescope magazine, in a question and answer column written by Lawrence J. Lafleur, there was a reference made to the term "blue moon."

Lafleur cited the unusual term from a copy of the 1937 edition of the now-defunct Maine Farmers' Almanac (NOT to be confused with The Farmers' Almanac of Lewiston, Maine, which is still in business).

On the almanac page for August 1937, the calendrical meaning for the term "blue moon" was given.

That explanation said that the moon "... usually comes full twelve 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. The almanac explanation continued:

"This was considered a very unfortunate circumstance, especially by the monks who had charge of the calendar of thirteen months for that year, and it upset the regular arrangement of church festivals. For this reason thirteen came to be considered an unlucky number."

And with that extra full moon, it also meant that one of the four seasons would contain four full moons instead of the usual three.

"There are seven Blue Moons in a Lunar Cycle of nineteen years," continued the almanac, ending on the comment that, "In olden times the almanac makers had much difficulty calculating the occurrence of the Blue Moon and this uncertainty gave rise to the expression 'Once in a Blue Moon.'"

An unfortunate oversight

But while LaFleur quoted the almanac's account, he made one very important omission: He never specified the date for this particular blue moon.

As it turned out, in 1937, it occurred on Aug. 21. That was the third full moon in the summer of 1937, a summer season that would see a total of four full moons.

Names were assigned to each moon in a season: For example, the first moon of summer was called the early summer moon, the second was the midsummer moon, and the last was called the late summer moon.

But when a particular season has four moons, the third was apparently called a blue moon so that the fourth and final one can continue to be called the late moon.

So where did we get the "two full moons in a month rule" that is so popular today?

A moon mistake

Once again, we must turn to the pages of Sky & Telescope.

This time, on page 3 of the March 1946 issue, James Hugh Pruett wrote an article, "Once in a Blue Moon," in which he made a reference to the term "blue moon" and referenced LaFleur's article from 1943.

But because Pruett had no specific full moon date for 1937 to fall back on, his interpretation of the ruling given by the Maine Farmers' Almanac was highly subjective. Pruett ultimately came to this conclusion:

"Seven times in 19 years there were – and still are – 13 full moons in a year. This gives 11 months with one full moon each and one with two. This second in a month, so I interpret it, was called Blue Moon."

How unfortunate that Pruett did not have a copy of that 1937 almanac at hand, or else he would have almost certainly noticed that his "two full moons in a single month assumption" would have been totally wrong.

For the blue moon date of Aug. 21 was most definitely not the second full moon that month!

Blue moon myth runs wild

Pruett's 1946 explanation was, of course, the wrong interpretation and it might have been completely forgotten were it not for Deborah Byrd who used it on her popular National Public Radio program, "StarDate" on Jan. 31, 1980.

We could almost say that in the aftermath of her radio show, the incorrect blue moon rule "went viral" — or at least the '80s equivalent of it.

Over the next decade, this new blue moon definition started appearing in diverse places, such as the World Almanac for Kids and the board game Trivial Pursuit.

I must confess here, that even I was involved in helping to perpetuate the new version of the blue moon phenomenon. Nearly 30 years ago, in the Dec. 1, 1982 edition of The New York Times, I made reference to it in that newspaper's "New York Day by Day" column.

And by 1988, the new definition started receiving international press coverage.

Today, Pruett's misinterpreted "two full moons in a month rule" is recognized worldwide. Indeed, Sky & Telescope turned a literary lemon into lemonade, proclaiming later that – however unintentional – it changed pop culture and the English language in unexpected ways.

Meanwhile, the original Maine Farmers' Almanac rule had been all but forgotten.
...

http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... p?f=9&t=28
http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... =8&t=17906
http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... =9&t=17908
http://asterisk.apod.com/vie ... =9&t=17915

[emc]

Thanks for the explanation Bystander! And the great links. I’m looking forward to Sunday! Hope the weather’s clear!

[BMAONE23]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXb2a0WQ ... E&index=28[/youtube]

[rstevenson]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s4oSTyjZ ... re=related[/youtube]

Rob

[bystander]

Although Ella has always had such a wonderful voice, I like the Marcel's version better.
I am a big Doo-Wop fan. I also liked Bowzer and that retro Doo-Wop band Sha Na Na.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

[neufer]

I am a big Doo-Wop fan. I also liked Bowzer and that retro Doo-Wop band Sha Na Na.

Click to play embedded YouTube video.

In honor of tonight's Blue Moon I want all youse Asternauts
out there to perform the Sha Na Na dance to the music!

<<Jon "Bowzer" Bauman (born September 14, 1947 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American musician, best known as a member of the band Sha Na Na, and game show host. Bauman's popular Sha Na Na character, "Bowzer" (sometimes called "Bowzer J. Bowzer" and sometimes "Choo Wate"), was a gangly greaser in a muscle shirt. Bauman started attending The Juilliard School at age 12 and is a 1964 graduate of Martin Van Buren H.S. in Queens Village, NY. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Columbia University. After his heyday with Sha Na Na, Bauman was a VJ on the music channel VH-1 during its first two years. He has appeared on several television series, such as Miami Vice, and has also done voiceovers for animated series, such as Animaniacs, and animated feature films, including My Little Pony: The Movie and The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones. He also hosted the Hollywood Squares half of the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour. In addition, Bauman hosted The Pop 'N Rocker Game, a weekly syndicated rock 'n' roll game show, which launched a few weeks before the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour premiered. Bauman currently tours extensively with his Bowzer and the Stingrays group at fairs, amusement parks, cruise ships, and conventions all over the world. They currently headline "Bowzer's Ultimate Doo-Wop Party". Bauman lives in Los Angeles with his wife, Mary. Their two children, Nora and Eli, are recent graduates of Columbia University.>>

[owlice]

In honor of tonight's Blue Moon I want all youse Asternauts out there to perform the Sha Na Na dance to the music!

I hope the gold lamé is optional.