Blue Moon

The Phenomenal Blue Moon

Last few days, media were hectic on delivering news about blue moon, the phenomenal occurrence which happens very rarely. Said to be beautiful, this phenomenon successfully draws the attention of many people from all around the world; although not all of them are lucky to see the full moon.

What is Blue Moon?

Blue moon is a phenomenon in which the third full-moon appears during a season regularly having four full moons. More commonly, people understand blue moon as the second full moon in a month. Therefore, this is the unusual event people should be eager to see. Recently, this phenomenon happened in the last August, where the full moons came out at the beginning and the end of the month.

Why ‘Blue’?

Despite the additional name of ‘blue’  to this kind of full moon, you should not expect that you will see a moon in blue color. It is just a term to specially mention a rare occasion. Nevertheless, you will be able to see the moon in a blue color when large area is on fire.

The color blue appears due to certain amount of smoke and/or dust in the atmosphere. If there is no enough smoke or dust, the blue moonwill not look bluish. The history shows that after huge eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, the moon appears blue.

How does Blue Moon Happen?

Blue moon happens once a time because the different number of days in solar and lunar calendar. As we know, solar calendar has more days in a year compared to lunar calendar. The accumulation of those extra days; which is around 11 days, is the precise time when blue moon happens.

According to the scientists, blue moon happens once in around 2-3 years. Thus, people are eager to pay more attention to the sky when the blue moon issue is blown up. The scientists predict that this extraordinary moon will appear 15 times more during the next 20 years; but it will not happen in some years i.e. 2011, 2014, and also 2017. 

Another Meaning of Blue Moon

This phrase had been recorded in an ancient proverb stated in 1528. This colloquial expression has the meaning of absurdity. A well-known phrase concerning this blue moon is ‘once in a blue moon’, which means ‘rarely’ or even ‘never’. It remains uncertain and unknown about the etymology of this phrase; whether it has connection with the rare event of lunar blue moon or not. However, people are still using this term until these days.