Showing posts with label Blue Moon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blue Moon. Show all posts

Jan 26, 2018

Super Blue, Blood, Snow Moon

We will be able to view a super moon, blue moon, and a total lunar eclipse (blood moon) all on the same night.

The blue moon is the second full moon in a month and the first full moon showed up on January 1. The full moon (blue moon) will occur at 8:37 a.m. ET Jan. 31. It is the first blue moon total lunar eclipse in the US since March 1866.

The lunar eclipse on January 31 will last about 3½ hours from the beginning of the partial phase at 3:48 a.m. PT until it ends at 7:12 a.m. PT, from western North America across the Pacific to eastern Asia. In the United States, the best view of the eclipse will be along the West Coast. For skywatchers in the central and eastern US, only a partial eclipse will be visible.

The full moon will take on a dark, reddish appearance during the eclipse and is described as a blood moon. This full moon was also known as the "snow moon" by some Native American tribes.

A super moon occurs when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth.

Jul 31, 2015

Blue Moon

Today we can see the second full moon in July and a second one in a month is commonly referred to as a blue moon. The US Naval Observatory in Washington describes it as, " ... the third full moon in an astronomical season in which four full moons fall." It takes place at the same instant everywhere in the world, whether the moon is above or below the horizon.

The phenomenon appears about every 33 months, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The most literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, usually caused by smoke or dust particles, which is a rare event. Hence the saying of, "once in a blue moon."

Of course, today's blue moon is not actually blue, but this song from the Marcells definitely is
LINK, and this one is all light, but not blue from Judith Durham and the Seekers LINK.

Jan 2, 2010

Blue Moon

On December 31st, will be the second full moon of the month, or the 13th full moon of the year. These rare occasions are called a blue moon, as in “once in a blue moon.” There will also be a partial lunar eclipse on the 31st (visible in Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia).