August is a Blue Month.
Why is it so? We have a Blue Moon this month. Nevertheless, it must be noted that blue moons are not named for their color. They just look like any other full moon.
What is a Blue Moon, then? A Blue Moon can be defined as the second full moon in a month – or the third full moon of four in a season. Thus the name Blue Moon accounts for times when there are more full moons than is ordinary.
This month, we have TWO full moons. The first full moon is August 1. The second full moon is August 31, 2012. The time between one full moon and the next (Synodic Period) is nearly a calendar month, which is 29.53 days. Thus, two full moons in a month is possible if the full moon occurs in the first few days of the month. This happens every two to three years. We will have the next Blue Moon on July 3, 2015.
There can be two blue moons in a year. It happened in 1999, where January and March had two full moons each, and no full moon in February. January and March, for this reason, had Blue Moons. The next year of double blue moons is coming up in 2018.
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Blue Moons aren’t blue: SpaceFellowship Moon Image by Rob
Goldsmith. This photo was created using computer effects.
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Blue Moon: The Definition
Blue moon was actually defined as the third full moon of four in a season. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, a Blue Moon is an extra full moon that occurred in a season. One season – winter, spring, fall, summer – typically has three full moons. If a season has four full moons, then the third full moon may be called a Blue Moon.
The idea of a Blue Moon as the second full moon in a month started from the March 1946 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine, which had an article called “Once in a Blue Moon” written by James Hugh Pruett. Pruett was using a 1937 Maine Farmer’s Almanac, but he simplified the definition. He said:
“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.”
In the late 1970’s, Deborah Byrd got a a copy of this old 1946 issue of Sky and Telescope in the stacks of the Peridier Library at the University of Texas Astronomy Department. Later, she began using the term Blue Moon to describe the second full moon in a calendar month on the radio. This definition of Blue Moon was further popularized by a children’s book by Margot McLoon-Basta and Alice Sigel, “Kids’ World Almanac of Records and Facts,” which was published in New York by World Almanac Publications in 1985.The second-full-moon-in-a-month definition was also used in the board game Trivial Pursuit.
Some Other Facts You Might Want To Know
1)Second Full Moon: Blue Moon :: First full Moon: ?
If the second full moon if the month is called a Blue Moon, the first full moon of the month in August is called a Sturgeon Moon, according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. Fishing tribes who live near the Great Lakes first named the first full moon of August as the Sturgeon Moon for it marks the season of a good sturgeon fish catch. (Please take note that the term is only applicable to the first full moon in August.)
2) Second Full Moon: Blue Moon :: Second New Moon: ?
We refer Blue Moon to the second full moon of the month, but no one has assigned a name for the second new moon of the month. However, these opposing phases appear to be connected with each other. If two new moons occur in a month, then in most cases, four years later, two full moons will also occur in that very same month.
For example, there were two new moons in August 2008. Now, four years later, August 2012 will have two full moons.
We will see two full moons in July 2015 (July 1 and 31). On July 2011, we had two new moons.
3) Why BLUE moon?
One explanation says that it came from an Old English word “belewe” which means “to betray.” Haply, the Blue Moon was “belewe” because it betrayed the usual perception of one full Moon per month.
4) Are there real colored-blue moons?
At times, usually after vast forest fires or major volcanic eruptions, the Moon has reportedly seen in a bluish or lavender hue. Unusual sky conditions, larger-sized particles of dust or smoke can make the Moon look blue. However, Blue-colored moons aren’t predictable and are very rare.
Sources:
The Next Blue Moon is August 31, 2012. 2012. In: EarthSky: A
clear voice of science article [Internet]. [Updated: 2012 August 21; Cited:
2012 August 23]; Available from: <http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/when-is-the-next-blue-moon
Mike Wall. August Sets Stage for ‘Blue Moon’ on Aug. 31.
2012. In: Space.com [Internet]. [Updated: 2012 August 01; Cited: 2012 August 23];
Available from: <http://www.space.com/16840-august-full-moons-blue-moon.html
>
Blue Moon 2012: August to Bring Two Full Moons, Astronomical
Rarity. 2012. In: Huff post SCIENCE: The Internet Newspaper [Internet]. Ed. U.S
[Updated: 2012 July 30; Cited: 2012 August 23]; Available from: <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/07/30/blue-moon-2012-august-two-full-moons_n_1718517.html>
What is a Blue Moon. 2012. In: Moon Giant [Internet].[Cited:
2012 August 25]. Available from: <http://www.moongiant.com/Blue_Moon_Calendar.php>
Lunar Calendar for 2011 Year. 2011. In: Lunaf.com[Internet].
[Cited 2012 August 25]; Available from: <http://lunaf.com/english/moon-phases/lunar-calendar-2011/>
Once in a Blue Moon. 2012. In: The Farmer’s Almanac
[Internet]. [Cited 2012 August 25]; Available from: <http://www.farmersalmanac.com/astronomy/2012/08/20/once-in-a-blue-moon/>
Blaine Friedlander. 2012. Blue Moon and Sturgeon Moon in
August 2012. In: The Washington Post [Internet]. [Updated: 2012 August 1; Cited
2012 August 23]; Available from: <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/blue-moon-and-sturgeon-moon-in-august-2012/2012/08/01/gJQAzqZSPX_blog.html>
Photo credit:
Goldsmith, Rob. Blue Moon on New Year’s Eve. 2009. In: Space
Fellowship [Internet]. [Updated: 2009 December 29; Cited: 2012 August 26];
Available from: http://spacefellowship.com/news/art17463/blue-moon-on-new-year-s-eve.html
Prepared by: Ericka Jane Angeles
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