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"Blue Moon" Appears in Sky Saturday Night

Posted by Hemos on from the blue-moon-you-saw-me-standing-alone dept.

ArbiterOne writes "Tonight a rare spectacle can be seen: the second full moon in a month, which is sometimes called the "blue moon", according to CNN. Don't be disappointed if it isn't actually blue, though; the blueness is caused by increased density of smoke or ash in the air, such as after a volcanic eruption."

154 comments

  1. Not all that rare by PlazMatiC · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It's not that much of a rare occurrance .. Once every 2.7 years, even.

    1. Re:Not all that rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      did you fail math 101? read it again, its 1/blue moon = 2.71 years, therefore its 134.4 days.

    2. Re:Not all that rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Once in a blue moon refers to frequency, not time.

      1 * once in a blue moon = 1.16699016 × 10-08 hertz

      1 / frequency = time.

    3. Re:Not all that rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I have a calendar for lunar months if anyone's interested.

      The "second in a month" definition for blue moons is obviously going to cause a hot debate here, but if you're interested in the 'original' definition, then 28th september will be the blue moon (4th full moon in a quarter (this quarter = jun,jul,sep)) and today would be the full Sturgeon moon.

      Next blue moon is 2007, either on 31 May or 29 June depending on definition.

      OJW

    4. Re:Not all that rare by Orinthe · · Score: 3, Interesting

      I don't know where this google calculator gets its numbers from, but blue moons are actually twice as common as it implies.

      There are approximately 13 lunar cycles in a year, and 12 months. Simple math should be able to tell you that there must be a blue moon on average at least once a year--rarely two, and rarely none. In fact, over the next 20 years, 17 will have blue moons.

      That's about every 1.2 years.

      --
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    5. Re:Not all that rare by swimboy · · Score: 4, Informative

      The moon's cycle is about 29.5 days, which makes about 12.4 full moons a year. That means a blue moon about every 3 years.

      The 17 blue moons in 20 years is due to two different definitions of what constitutes a blue moon. So, blue moons are twice as common, because there are two different ways to define what a blue moon is!

      --
      Ask me how the Heisenberg Principle may or may not have saved my life.
    6. Re:Not all that rare by kzinti · · Score: 2, Informative

      The lunar cycle is 29.5 days long on average, not 28. That gives about 12.4 full moons per year, on average.

      I don't know how infoplease.com counted blue moons to get 17 in the next twenty years, unless it was counting both the 2nd-in-a-month and the 4th-in-a-season varieties. Ask this blue moon calculator to list the blue moons between 2004 and 2024, and it lists nine of them (of the 2nd-in-a-month kind).

      That's about every 2.2 years.

    7. Re:Not all that rare by Peter_JS_Blue · · Score: 4, Funny

      Oh shit !! My friends say I only buy a round of drinks every blue moon - its going to be a very expensive night in my local pub this evening.

      --
      Art Makers Just an excuse to show photos of naked women !!
    8. Re:Not all that rare by TheFlyingGoat · · Score: 1

      And in 1999 it happened twice in three months. Not rare at all.

      --
      You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
    9. Re:Not all that rare by geekoid · · Score: 1

      " Simple math should....."
      yes, but only if you enter the correct numbers. Or even nearly correct numbers. 29.5 springs to mind.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    10. Re:Not all that rare by Orinthe · · Score: 1

      You know, all the replies to this are correct--and I'm wrong! I feel sort of silly for not reading more carefully, I was posting from work and had to leave.

      There actually were 17 blue moons total with both definitions of a blue moon: about the same number of each kind (probably 8 of one and 9 of another).

      The "13 lunar cycles in a year" was just a common (and, in my defense, approximately correct) approximation. But that .6 makes a big difference. I stand corrected.

      Still, I wouldn't call it rare.

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    11. Re:Not all that rare by LC+Gundo · · Score: 2, Informative

      According to the CNN article the original definition is the 3rd full moon in a quarter that has 4 full moons, so tonight meets both the original Maine Farmer's Almanac definition and the post-1980 Sky and Telescope magazine definition.

      --
      I'm time traveling, right now
  2. Global Warming... by rufu · · Score: 0, Troll

    I've got a feeling that these are going to get a lot more common in the future

    1. Re:Global Warming... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
      Yes, not only will global warming cause the seas to rise, polar caps, to melt, cause general destruction to the whole planet...

      It will cause the moon to obit the earth faster and produce more full moons.

      Congrats, you may be the dumbest person ever on slashdot. And believe me, that's saying something.

    2. Re:Global Warming... by DAldredge · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      WTF are you talking about? I mean put down the crack pipe.

    3. Re:Global Warming... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent insightful.

    4. Re:Global Warming... by cuzality · · Score: 1

      In that case, we can thank the sun for all the blue moons:

      BBC: Sunspots reaching 1,000-year high
      A new analysis shows that the Sun is more active now than it has been at anytime in the previous 1,000 years.

      Scientists based at the Institute for Astronomy in Zurich used ice cores from Greenland to construct a picture of our star's activity in the past.

      They say that over the last century the number of sunspots rose at the same time that the Earth's climate became steadily warmer.

    5. Re:Global Warming... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not redundant when the OP is in fact stupid and no one had modded HIM as such.

    6. Re:Global Warming... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, obviously -- not only does global warming cause more full moons, it also causes sunspots. I suspect it also plays a role in asteroid imapacts.

    7. Re:Global Warming... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How can anyone talk about anything global without a concept of how our globe orbits the sun and how the moon orbits the earth?

    8. Re:Global Warming... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mod parent redundant.

  3. ARgh! by mfh · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now I have to do all that stuff I told everyone I would only do when the moon turns blue. *sigh*

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:ARgh! by The+Zody · · Score: 1

      I'm just waiting for Halfife 2 now.

  4. Rare? by MaelstromX · · Score: 5, Interesting

    From TFA:

    The phrase "Once in a blue moon" was first noted in 1824 and refers to occurrences that are uncommon, perhaps even rare. Yet, to have two full Moons in the same month is not as uncommon as one might think. In fact, it occurs, on average, about every 32 months. And in the year 1999 it actually occurred twice in three months.

    --
    audioLibre - freedom of music
    1. Re:Rare? by severoon · · Score: 4, Informative

      I heard that the adoption of the term blue moon in modern usage actually stems from a misappropriation of the term from some Native American tribe (around the time frame you mention, early 19th C). The term, as far as my uninformed and caffeine-addled mind can conjure at the moment, originally referred to an occurrence of a particular full moon that occurred during the three-month harvest season; specifically, when four moons occurred during this three month season, the third of the sequence was called a "blue moon". (The Wikipedia entry seems to make reference to this--see the second entry--but I can't find anything specific on it. Also, it doesn't seem to mention the "harvest" season, just any season, which is not what I heard from my unreliable source.)

      This is why our concept of blue moon as the second in a month doesn't seem to make sense in terms of rarity...it's not that rare. It makes a bit more sense if we consider how often four moons occur during the three month harvest season. That was probably quite a bit more rare.

      --
      but have you considered the following argument: shut up.
    2. Re:Rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Except that we actually see a full moon about every 29.5 days. Thus it is a *bit* rarer than that.

    3. Re:Rare? by drang · · Score: 4, Interesting

      (treating the months as independent of each other which obviously isn't the case but shouldn't affect the outcome)

      It is not the case, it should affect the outcome, and it does. Using your figures and ignoring fractional days of a lunation, the day of the month on which a full moon occurs regresses 1-3 days each month, so if a "blue" moon occurs this month (in days 29-31) one can't occur next month (in days 26-28).

    4. Re:Rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

      But calling two full moons in one month a 'blue moon' first happened in about the 1920s when the Farmer's Almanac gave each full moon of the year a special name. The event of a double full moon was called a blue moon. Later (around 1985) Trival pursuit made it this into a question and this usage became popular.

    5. Re:Rare? by delphi125 · · Score: 1

      Except we never see a full moon during the day, since by definition the earth is between the sun and the moon.

      Except that since we have a full moon at least once a month (ok, except February, maybe), we must accept a margin of error of 12 hours.

      Except that if we have a margin of error of 12 hours, (sufficiently) full moons occur two nights running every other month.

      Except that if full moons can occur two nights running and then another 29.5 days after the day between those two nights, three full months per month become not uncommon.

      Except...

    6. Re:Rare? by SoSueMe · · Score: 5, Informative
      Here is a really good explanation of the background on our current definition of a "Blue Moon" which seems to have been popularized by none other than Trivial Persuit.

      On July 31 of this year, those taking an evening stroll beneath a cloudless sky will have the opportunity to look up and see what modern folklore refers to as a "blue moon." Though the moon itself will not actually be blue--or likely even appear blue--it will be the second full moon in the same calendar month of July, which is what qualifies this Saturday's lunar view as a blue moon, at least by today's standards.

      That's not to say that the moon has never appeared blue in color to the average, unaided, ground-bound observer. The moon can and has shone blue or even green in color whenever a sufficient quantity of micron-sized particulates is present in the atmosphere, usually after a volcanic eruption.

      The micron-sized debris (specifically, any particles slightly larger than the wavelength of red light, about 0.7 microns) refracts the moonlight, turning it green or blue, based on certain atmospheric factors. For an example of this phenomenon, one need look no further than accounts of blue moons following the eruption of the island of Krakatau in 1883.

      While instances of actual blue-tinted moons represent one of several documented meanings of the term, using blue moon to describe the second full moon in one calendar month is a fairly recent practice. This definition arose in the 20th century, and it didn't really become part of the widespread public consciousness until the 1980s.

      We can attribute this sudden proliferation of a previously undocumented and unused definition for blue moon to three otherwise reputable sources of fine information and fun trivia, all of which were working off bad information.

      WHAT THREE MASS-MEDIA TRIVIA SOURCES ARE MOST RESPONSIBLE FOR THE NEWEST DEFINITION OF A "BLUE MOON"?

      What three reputable mass-media trivia resources are most responsible for the current popular definition of a "blue moon" to mean the second full moon in the same calendar month, and what is the likely origin of this "mistaken" definition?

      The most recent and most widely known source of the "new" blue moon definition is none other than the king daddy of all trivia board games, Trivial Pursuit. Specifically, the Trivial Pursuit Genus II edition published in 1986 included this definition as a question in the Science and Nature category.

      Given the popularity of the game, it's little wonder that folklorists witnessed this definition enter widespread usage in the 1980s. But where did the game makers get their information?

      Trivial Pursuit archives (yes, they exist) cite The Kids' World Almanac of Records and Facts, published in 1985, as the source of the question. The book's authors, however, can't trace their own source for this "fact."

      So where did the Almanac authors get it? Folklorist Philip Hiscock suggests it came from our second mass-media source.

      In January 1980, the National Public Radio (NPR) program "Star Date" featured a piece by Deborah Byrd that noted the "second full moon in one calendar month" definition of blue moon. Byrd cited a 1946 article in Sky & Telescope magazine as her source. Hiscock considers the "Star Date" broadcast as the likely source of the Almanac entry, and thus NPR is the second mass-media source to get blue moon "wrong."

      The third, obviously, is the usually reliable Sky & Telescope magazine. A March 1946 article by amateur astronomer James Hugh Pruett titled "Once in a Blue Moon" contains the modern definition of the term, but it cites the 1937 Maine Farmers' Almanac as its source. No edition of that Almanac, however, contains the modern definition of a blue moon.

      Several editions of the Almanac do list a different definition of a blue moon--the third, extra full moon of an agricultural season. The Maine Farmers' Almanacs of tha

    7. Re:Rare? by motogp_fan · · Score: 1

      Whoooohoooo! I'm gonna get lucky tonight!

      --
      ----- Roadracing makes heroin addiction look like a vague wish for something salty.
    8. Re:Rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MOD PARENT UP

    9. Re:Rare? by pilsner.urquell · · Score: 1

      The reason I always thought is each of 12 moons has a name like "Harvest Moon," "Hunter's Moon" and the like. But when a month occurs that contains 2 full moons, there is no name for this second moon and it was given the name, "Blue Moon." for lack of a name.

    10. Re:Rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      treating the months as independent of each other which obviously isn't the case but shouldn't affect the outcome)

      Please see the book 'Innumeracy', or illiteracy in numbers. And please learn some basic probability theory before your ill attempts again.

    11. Re:Rare? by srleffler · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sky and Telescope has published an article more recently, explaining what happened and their role in it. It is available online.

    12. Re:Rare? by srleffler · · Score: 1

      This is almost right, but the way the names of the moons were assigned was more complicated than this. The names were assigned based on the seasons, with three named full moons per season. If a season had four full moons, the extra one had no assigned name and was called a "blue" moon. This is not necessarily the second full moon in a month, however, nor was the "blue" moon necessarily the last one in the season. They had some scheme for figuring out which of the moons got which name. The modern connection with the second full moon in a month arose due to an error, as explained by the grandparent article.

    13. Re:Rare? by no_space_in_time · · Score: 1

      I'm a guy, what do I know about 28 day cycles ;) ?

      --
      "save a cow, eat a vegetarian"
    14. Re:Rare? by andrewdski · · Score: 1
      This is an interesting article. There is more to blue moons than I realized.

      It was particularly interesting to me since I just saw Tom Skilling (a Chicago television meteorologist) describe how two blue moons in a month was the wrong definition and four in a season is correct. He even mentioned the 1946 Sky and Telescope article as the reason for the confusion.

      I suspect he read this later Sky and Telescope article, but reading it I realize that even his "correction" is bit of an over-simplification.

      It makes me want to go back to defining a blue moon as a very rare event involving dust, etc. in the atmosphere and the moon actually appearing to be blue.

    15. Re:Rare? by kzinti · · Score: 1

      We see a full moon every 28 days.

      We see a full moon every 29.5 days on average. See this page for the computation and exact value of the synodic period.

    16. Re:Rare? by uriber · · Score: 1
      Actullay, according to Cecil Adams:
      The first appearance of "blue moon" is in a work entitled Rede Me and Be Not Wroth (1528): "Yf they say the mone is blewe/We must believe that it is true." According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "if the moon is blue" is equivalent to saying "if the moon were made of green cheese." In other words, it's meant to indicate a patent absurdity.
    17. Re:Rare? by geekoid · · Score: 1

      I had always understood the term came from the fact that a certian almanac would print the moon blue if it was the second one in a month.

      I l;earned that in the early 70s.
      Doesn't mean it's correct, just what I had learned.

      I stopped playing trivial persuit what that said that 'Reno' is the capital of Nevada.

      --
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    18. Re:Rare? by oleb-hjemme · · Score: 1

      You're obviously not married.

    19. Re:Rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      He probably confused the moon cycle for his girlfriend's.

    20. Re:Rare? by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And of course, in very old trade calendars (1930's or thereabouts IIRC) phases of the moon were prominently displayed with the calendar dates. If a page spilled over to another month, and a full moon was shown, it was invariably printed in blue ink.

      --
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    21. Re:Rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      http://www.ubersite.com/m/27633


      For the single men.

    22. Re:Rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm just trying to figure out if it's worth digging out my chisenbop skills to settle this argument.

  5. Blue, where is that coming from? by matgorb · · Score: 1

    This looked weird, so I googled it. http://www.griffithobs.org/IPSBlueMoon.html I wonder if I'll be able to see it given the fact that i am in Scotland an clouds are everywhere.

    1. Re:Blue, where is that coming from? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't you mean MacLeods are everywhere?

      viva Highlander.

    2. Re:Blue, where is that coming from? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      MacLeods in the skye?

  6. rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    from my understanding blue moons are not actually all that rare ... with the frequency of the cycle having two full moons in the same calender month happens once a year or so given that we don't follow the lunar calender ... am i wrong about this?

    *disclaimer*

    (been up all night, haven't done the research before posting, blame me later)

  7. This occured just 90 days after... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...the moon switched over to Windows ME. Even that stupid asteroid from Armageddon knows not to run ME.

  8. Once in a Blue Moon by pipingguy · · Score: 4, Funny


    Neat! Maybe that means my askslashdot submission will be accepted!

    1. Re:Once in a blue moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      playing it on GNU/Hurd, right?

  9. two full moons not originally "blue moon" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    A "blue moon" is not when there are two full moons in a month. It is when the moon actually turns a shade of blue.

    This is caused by ash or other particles in the air and the light reflecting from the moon is filtered through said air and is 'tinted'.

    Every so often you see a "red moon" when the moon is close to the horizon. The refraction of the light traveling through the atmosphere makes it appear red.

    At least the above was the original definition of "blue moon". Over the years the definition has changed to mean three things. One of which is the two full moons. The later definitions were created more out of ignorance.

    1. Re:two full moons not originally "blue moon" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "Every so often you see a "red moon" when the moon is close to the horizon. The refraction of the light traveling through the atmosphere makes it appear red."

      Every rising and setting, in fact.

    2. Re:two full moons not originally "blue moon" by Hatta · · Score: 1

      So, why would ash make the moon look blue? Wouldn't particles in the air tend to scatter shorter wavelength light more than longer wavelength light, giving the moon a red tinge? I know I've seen plenty of red moons.

      --
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    3. Re:two full moons not originally "blue moon" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Red moon...

      You see these if you are near a forest fire also.

      Driving home thru the Columbia Gorge last summer, the moon was red for most of the way, due to the smoke coming from the fires in the Cascades near Sisters, OR.

    4. Re:two full moons not originally "blue moon" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      that's true for Rayleigh scattering, when the particles are smaller than light wavelengths. This is true for air molecules, and accentuated by many forms of pollution. so, usually, the sky is blue and the sun yellow.

      bigger particles (as produced by ash clouds) scatter varying wavelengths and can produce any colour. smoke particles, as was known to Jimi Hendrix, tend to produce a purple* haze. for a strong colour, the particles must be fairly uniform in size, which often happens with smokes, as the smoke is oil droplets, not ash.

      *
      I'd be mair vauntie o' my hap,
      Douce hingin owre my curple,
      Than ony ermine ever lap,
      Or proud imperial purple.

      Rabbie Burns.
      so you can rhyme with purple.

  10. Rare? by Finuvir · · Score: 4, Interesting

    We see a full moon every 28 days. So a month with 31 days will have a blue moon if it has a full moon in the first three days. The chance of that is 3/28. The chance of a blue moon in a 30-day month is 2/28. There are 7 31-day months, 4 30-day months. So chance of no blue moon in a year (treating the months as independent of each other which obviously isn't the case but shouldn't affect the outcome) is (25/28)^7 * (26/28)^4 which is about 43.4%. So there's a 56.6% chance of a blue moon in any year.

    --
    Why is anything anything?
  11. Dark Side by dfj225 · · Score: 1

    I would have destroyed the world by now but my fricken incompetent evil empire but my "laser" on the Dark Side of the moon.

    --
    SIGFAULT
    1. Re:Dark Side by abionnnn · · Score: 1

      Oh so it was you earthlings who destroyed our home world! Prepare for liquidation!

    2. Re:Dark Side by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Pendantic comment:
      Far side. Far Side of the moon. There is no permenantly dark side. Daylight lasts 2 weeks.

      Still, funny post.

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    3. Re:Dark Side by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is no Dark Side of the Moon really...
      Matter of fact its all dark..

  12. The Marcels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

    Blue Moon, you saw me standing alone
    Without a dream in my heart
    Without a love of my own

    Blue Moon, you knew just what I was there for
    You heard me saying a prayer for
    Someone I really could care for

    And then there suddenly appeared before me
    The only one my arms will ever hold
    I heard somebody whisper, "Please adore me"
    And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold

    Blue Moon, now I'm no longer alone
    Without a dream in my heart
    Without a love of my own

    1. Re:The Marcels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The song "Blue Moon" was an old Tin Pan Alley song written by Rodgers and Hart back in the 1930s. The Marcels sang it to the Doo Wop tune "Zoom Zoom Zoom" and thus turned "Blue Moon" into one of the last big Doo Wop hits.

      (Not that anyone is likely to read this post, but...)

  13. Blue moon may not mean what you think by cityslicker · · Score: 0, Redundant

    According to an article here: http://skyandtelescope.com/news/article_1310_1.asp , the name 'blue moon' has been around for 400 years, but the meaning "2nd moon in a month" was only invented 25 years ago.

  14. Very very rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    It occurs slightly less often than IE is patched.

    1. Re:Very very rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You are......stupid.

    2. Re:Very very rare by chcorey · · Score: 1

      No, this means that all windows patches released today will actually not cause any more additional vulnerabilities. Too bad this had to happen on a Saturday. Oh well, only 2.7 more years.
      - This is my first post

      --
      Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children
    3. Re:Very very rare by britneys+9th+husband · · Score: 1

      It occurs slightly less often than IE is patched.

      The article is about blue moons, not full moons.

      --
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  15. How rare? by lildogie · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "A rare spectacle" that happens more often than U.S. Presidential elections. I guess that makes the elections a rarer spectacle.

    1. Re:How rare? by Grey+Tomorrow · · Score: 3, Funny

      But still a spectable, eh?

    2. Re:How rare? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So what do you mod if a comment is both funny and insightful? Maybe there should be a 'sad comment on society mod'?

  16. Canceling out? by Zorilla · · Score: 1

    I wonder if the blue effect of ash and smoke would cancel out the yellowish hue of the moon when it's behind thin clouds to produce a somewhat greyscale moon, even when viewed in not-so-perfect weather. (As in color temperature)

    --

    It would be cool if it didn't suck.
  17. whats this doing here? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    this is /. news why exactly?

  18. interesting article about it in sky & telescop by laejoh · · Score: 5, Informative
    see article

    From the article:
    According to Canadian folklorist Philip Hiscock, the term "blue Moon" has been around for more than 400 years, but its modern calendrical meaning has become widespread only in the last 25. And as discovered five years ago, it can be traced to a mistake published in Sky & Telescope in the 1940s!
  19. Black Moon is even more rare by cyber_rigger · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When no full moons occur in a month (usually February).

    1. Re:Black Moon is even more rare by gnu-generation-one · · Score: 4, Informative
      "Black Moon is even more rare: When no full moons occur in a month (usually February)"

      That would make it 2018 then?
      Blue moon: 31/Jan/2008, 9am
      Worm moon: 01/Mar/2008, 10pm
      b.t.w. I don't think it's "usually february", I think it is always february. Every month other than february is guaranteed to be longer than the synodic period (about 29.5 days), so is guaranteed to contain a full moon. (apart from the month in which you change from julian to gregorian calendars...)

    2. Re:Black Moon is even more rare by tootlemonde · · Score: 2, Informative

      The last time there was no full moon in a month was February, 1999. The event was related to there being a Blue Moon in both January and March of that year.

      Black Moon can also refer to two new moons in one month. The last time it happened was May, 2003. The next time will be December, 2005.

      And let us not forget the Cheshire Moon. This name refers to a new or crescent moon where the line of the crescent looks like a smile or bowl instead of the typical "C" shape.

      The explanation given here:

      So, when a Crescent Moon is about to set and the Sun has already set, the Moon points down to the departed Sun: West. The horns poke up and that setting Crescent Moon "grins." If the Moon sets before the Sun, the nearby Sun creates such a glare that we can't see the setting crescent. Then it "frowns, " unseen.

      Nearly the same is true of a rising Crescent Moon. If the rising Crescent rises before the Sun, the Moon points east, down towards the laggard Sun and its horns likewise stick up -- it, too grins. Otherwise, if the crescent rises after the Sun, the Moon frowns unseen.

    3. Re:Black Moon is even more rare by gnu-generation-one · · Score: 2, Informative

      "Black Moon is even more rare: When no full moons occur in a month (usually February)"

      Of course, as someone pointed out, a "back moon" would imply
      two blue moons in that year

      So are we supposed to give them different names, or is it not possible to uniquely identify each moon in 2018? January Blue Moon and March Blue Moon or something?

      And can you change when blue moons occur by selecting an appropriate timezone, or by changing to daylight-savings-time just before a full moon?

    4. Re:Black Moon is even more rare by no_space_in_time · · Score: 2, Funny

      It's just not right, February doesn't get it's props. I'm calling Al Sharpton to have a day of protest.

      --
      "save a cow, eat a vegetarian"
    5. Re:Black Moon is even more rare by SammyTheSnake · · Score: 0

      And let us not forget the Cheshire Moon. This name refers to a new or crescent moon where the line of the crescent looks like a smile or bowl instead of the typical "C" shape.

      My mum always told me that her mum (Who's from Lancashire, England) had always said "When the moon's on its back, it's a sure sign of snow".
      Possibly there's a correlation between "cheshire moon" and the winter months...?

      Cheers & God bless
      Sam "SammyTheSnake" Penny

    6. Re:Black Moon is even more rare by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      A smiling crescent moon can only be seen in tropical or near tropical latitudes. In order for there to be a vertical crescent moon the sun must be directly below the moon, and this only occurs where the ecleptic is close to vertical. The only time I have seen one is when I was in Hawaii a few years ago.

    7. Re:Black Moon is even more rare by Alan+Hicks · · Score: 1

      The last one was in 1999, when we had blue moons in Jannuary and March. Incidently, the one in January was colored almost blood red.

      --
      Slackware, what else when it must be secure, stable, and easy?
  20. Blue moon explained by hshana · · Score: 3, Informative

    The term blue moon actually comes from the fact that in old almanacs the second full moon in a month was colored blue on the calendar.

    1. Re:Blue moon explained by geekoid · · Score: 1

      Thats what I heard as well. Can you find a source?

      --
      The Kruger Dunning explains most post on /. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect
    2. Re:Blue moon explained by kazbah · · Score: 1

      http://www.space.com/spacewatch/night_sky_040702.h tml

  21. Not Blue and Not Really a Blue Moon by demmuohio · · Score: 1

    According to an article on the Cincinnati Enquirer today (http://www.enquirer.com/editions/2004/07/31/loc_b luemoon31.html)

    "Only once in a blue moon is there controversy over exactly what constitutes a blue moon. But it's not a blue moon in the strict definition of the 19th Century Farmer's Almanac. According to the almanac, a true blue moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. This also happens about every three years, but on a different cycle from the blue moon that occurs tonight. Confused? So is the American Heritage Dictionary, which lists both definitions of the blue moon."

    More in the article. Interesting Stuff

  22. Blue mooning by GordoSlasher · · Score: 1

    This type of blue moon is rare unless beer is involved.

  23. I swear I'm not making this up by TrickFred · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...I read the article, and casually mentioned to the wife that tonight was a blue moon. She looked at me, and said with a straight face, "So, does that mean we have to have sex tonight?"

    1. Re:I swear I'm not making this up by Pusene · · Score: 1

      Of cource slashdotters lie about having a girlfriend/wife more often than once in a blue moon.

      --
      Error #13: No coffee. Operator halted. Please place boot device at bottom.
    2. Re:I swear I'm not making this up by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      well, maybe in the .no they do, but you know - theres geeks *everywhere* man!

    3. Re:I swear I'm not making this up by Myopic · · Score: 2, Funny

      to which you looked back at her with a straight face and said "yes, with that neighbor lady".

    4. Re:I swear I'm not making this up by OldManAndTheC++ · · Score: 4, Funny

      That reminds me, in a roundabout way, of one of my favorite jokes. A college psychology professor decides to quiz his students on their sexual habits. He asks the class how many have had sex more than once in the past week? Several raise their hands. How about once in the past week? More hands go up. Once in the past two weeks? And so on ... after he has gotten to once every two months, he notices that everyone in the classroom has raised his or her hand, except for one guy sitting in the back. So he goes on:

      "Three months". Nothing.

      "Four months". Nope.

      "Six months". Still nothing.

      "One year?!".

      Finally the guy in the back practically leaps out of his chair, raising his hand up high and bouncing up and down enthusiatically. The prof acknowledges him, and asks, "Well if you only get it once a year, why are you so happy?". The geeky guy smiles and says:

      "'Cause tonight's the night!!"

      P.S. If your wife wears glasses, may I recommend blue filters? :)

      --
      Soylent Green is peoplicious!
    5. Re:I swear I'm not making this up by 0x0d0a · · Score: 1

      That is what one might refer to as "a gentle hint".

      --
      May we never see th
  24. Ding ga dong ding... by TimTheFoolMan · · Score: 1

    Aaarrggghhh...where are the Marcells when I need them!

    Tim

    P.S. The lyrics to that song (http://www.lyricsfind.com/m/marcels/best-of/blue- moon.php) sound like they could've been written by a /. reader. Well, except for the second verse.

  25. This is Slashdot... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    get used to it. Here, it's a daily occurrence.

  26. Ske & Telescope had an article about this... by MaxRahder · · Score: 2, Interesting

    See the Sky & Telescope article: "What's a Blue Moon? The trendy definition of "blue Moon" as the second full Moon in a month is a mistake." http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/ article_127_1.asp

  27. Science? by bokmann · · Score: 3, Insightful

    This falls under science? This is solely an artifact of our time measuring system. The moon is full every 28 days, but months are slightly longer than that. If a full moon is early enough in the month, it will be full twice.

    1. Re:Science? by tootlemonde · · Score: 1

      The moon is full every 28 days...

      The number 28 appears to be a common confusion between the length of time between the same phase of the moon and the length of time it takes the moon to revolve once around the earth. . According to this site:

      The period of revolution is the SIDEREAL MONTH and has mean value of 27.32166 days. The SYNODICAL MONTH is the interval of time between two identical phases and has a mean value of 29.53059 days.

      It appears the moon is full about every 29 and half days, but your point still stands.

    2. Re:Science? by Guppy06 · · Score: 1

      "This falls under science?"

      Yes, it's called "astronomy."

      "This is solely an artifact of our time measuring system."

      A time measurement system based on the frequency vernal equinox, solar days and an attempted reconcilliation of the moon's orbit around the earth with the tropical year. Tidal forces between the earth, moon and sun keep everything related and fairly close to integer numbers.

      "The moon is full every 28 days, but months are slightly longer than that."

      Give it a few more million years. Fun with harmonics!

      "If a full moon is early enough in the month, it will be full twice."

      The science part comes from the way we're able to predict them centuries in advance with more precision than you can shake a stick at. For example, we can say what longitudes will actually experience this blue moon; The full moon won't be until 1806 UTC, which means about 1/4 of the planet will already be in August by the time it happens.

  28. A new Smurf will be born tonight! by ddkilzer · · Score: 1

    Isn't a Smurf born once every blue moon?

  29. Mead moon and Nanci Griffith by wherley · · Score: 2, Informative

    Related:

    The first moon in July is known as the "Mead Moon".

    A real nice song about the rarity of a Blue Moon is by Nanci Griffith.

  30. I wonder how it affects global tides? by skidoo2 · · Score: 1

    It would be interesting if someone "in the know" could share any insight on what effect (if any) these "extra" full moons have on tides.

    1. Re:I wonder how it affects global tides? by skidoo2 · · Score: 1

      I **DID** read the article, before anyone jumps on my ass. And I read the part about the first full moon of the month occurring so close to perigee and causing a noticeable variation in the tides. But I wonder if there's a relationship between having this "extra" full moon and tidal variations.

    2. Re:I wonder how it affects global tides? by Neophytus · · Score: 4, Informative

      None: The earth doesn't rely on a calendar so no pattern is changing.

    3. Re:I wonder how it affects global tides? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I can't see how it would, since it's only an artifact of our calendar. If we only recognized days rather than weeks, months, years, etc., this wouldn't be noticed. You'll still get 2 highs & 2 lows (most places) every 25 or so hours.

    4. Re:I wonder how it affects global tides? by Mikeybo · · Score: 1

      In fact the moon is always full even when we see it as a quarter moon. So the moon is full and active 365 days a year ;)

    5. Re:I wonder how it affects global tides? by kzinti · · Score: 2, Informative

      Factors that affect tides are the moon's distance from the earth, and its alignment relative to the sun. Tides are higher when the moon is at perigee (when its orbit brings it closest to the earth). Tides are also higher when the sun, moon, and earth align with the sun and moon on the same side of earth. The gravitational forces due to sun and moon add up to produce higher tides. The latter affect would occur at new moon; don't know if the former has any relationship to the lunar phases. Neither affect would have any relationship to "blue moons", which are an artifact of our calendar.

    6. Re:I wonder how it affects global tides? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Interestingly, the moon was at perigee yesterday. see:
      http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/pacalc.htm l

      Says:

      Jul 30 6:27 360325 km F-1d11h
      (Meaning it was 36 thousand km from earth, 1 day and 11hours before full moon)

      If you really want high tides, wait until January 10th next year, when the moon is at perigee 1 hour before new moon (meaning moon between earth and sun) and 8 days after perihelion (earth closest to sun).

  31. So what? by codexus · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is just a calendar coincidence not any kind of astronomical event. And in fact it happens quite often. So really, there is nothing special to see here. Was that really worth mentioning on slashdot?

    --
    True warriors use the Klingon Google
  32. Weird ring around the moon by tintub · · Score: 1

    We've just got home from a night out, and we noticed that there is a big ring around the moon (at least from here in Melbourne) - very strange. If I was sober I would google this interesting phenomenon - can someone just tell me what it is instead?

    --
    sig under construction...
    1. Re:Weird ring around the moon by bhima · · Score: 1
      ice crystals in the upper atmosphere

      Have a beer for me:)

      --
      Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
    2. Re:Weird ring around the moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I was sober I would google this interesting phenomenon - can someone just tell me what it is instead?
      Sure. It means you're pissed.

      Hope this helped.

    3. Re:Weird ring around the moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You saw a moonring :)

      As the other poster said, due to ice crystals. I saw one once - not as cool as a moonbow, but not bad :)

  33. For a minute I thought by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For a minute I thought you were about to discuss Blue Movie. A movie which, as in a SciFi plot, made the Dutch movie censorship council self-destruct by twisting with their own logic.

    This required a script about the borders of sexuality and scenes discussing these borders while the actors were casually nude and in explicit stages of arousal. All the nudity was essential to the story and now that such scenes could be seen in theatres censoring other movies was deemed useless as their scenes could not be rated 'more morally wrong' then Blue Movie.

    As a tribute to the director passing away recently the 1971 film was shown on public tv for the first time this week. A decent copy could not be found as the movie was not regarded worth keeping despite breaking box office records. A worn down to 'porn like' quality copy was all that could be found. Perhaps this actually added to the atmosphere of the movie.

    To attest to the Dutch freedom a guest on a late night talkshow requested a female-ejaculation porn scene to be shown on public tv. And don't worry kids the rerun of the show is scheduled early in the afternoon.

    Yes, Dutch public tv can be seen with an analog antenna or cable without decoder.

    Dennis

  34. Oh , *that* "Blue Moon" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I thought someone was projecting adult versions of Sailor Moon against the night (cloud) sky. My bad, but with Slashdot it seemed natural. (Okay, natural is perhaps the wrong word.)

  35. picture of actual BLUE moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    On APOD there a picture of a moon that's really blue.

    1. Re:picture of actual BLUE moon by ScienceMan · · Score: 1

      ... which is bluish due to reflected light from the earth, according to the caption, NOT due to scattering from particles etc. ... scattering tends to make light from the Sun, moon etc. RED not blue... Oh for a physicist when you really need one (line now!).

  36. Once in a blue moon by shoemakc · · Score: 3, Funny


    "Sara, please cancel all my appointments; I'll be spending the day compiling E17 final and playing Duke Nukem Forever....."

    -Chris

    --
    --an unbreakable toy is useful for breaking other toys--
  37. Various definitions by Alien54 · · Score: 1
    Of there is the blue moon which comes from volcanic dust.

    The definition of two full moons in a month is now "correct" due to common usage. The urban legend has now become fact.

    Apparently the earlier definition has to due with the oocurance of two full moons in a season. This ties in with the supposed American indian names from the colonial era. (note that the several thousand indian tribes would likely have a variety of names, IF they bothered to name them) This is actually more closely related to the European system of moon names, from which we get things like "harvest moon", or the Pascal moon (before Easter) (More on which below)

    There is this Folklore of the "Blue Moon" article An informative acticle is the Nasa Science Article on the subject, which traces the current usage to an old article in a 1946 Sky and Telescope Magazine.

    Sky And Telescope has their own article on the subject, including their own mea culpa here: What's a Blue Moon? -- from Sky & Telescope. Describes how a 53-yr old mistake by Sky and Telescope propagated the modern definition of "Blue Moon."

    In an article "Once in a Blue Moon", folklorist Philip Hiscock traced the calendrical meaning of the term "Blue Moon" to the Maine Farmers' Almanac for 1937. But a page from that almanac belies the second-full-Moon-in-a-month interpretation. With help from Margaret Vaverek (Southwest Texas State University) and several other librarians, we have now obtained more than 40 editions of the Maine Farmers' Almanac from the period 1819 to 1962. These refer to more than a dozen Blue Moons, and not one of them is the second full Moon in a month. What's going on here? [...]

    The almanac also follows certain rules laid down as part of the Gregorian calendar reform in 1582. The ecclesiastical vernal (spring) equinox always falls on March 21st, regardless of the position of the Sun. Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, 46 days before Easter, and must contain the Lenten Moon, considered to be the last full Moon of winter. The first full Moon of spring is called the Egg Moon (or Easter Moon, or Paschal Moon) and must fall within the week before Easter.

    At last we have the "Maine rule" for Blue Moons: Seasonal Moon names are assigned near the spring equinox in accordance with the ecclesiastical rules for determining the dates of Easter and Lent. The beginnings of summer, fall, and winter are determined by the dynamical mean Sun. When a season contains four full Moons, the third is called a Blue Moon.

    Why is the third full Moon identified as the extra one in a season with four? Because only then will the names of the other full Moons, such as the Moon Before Yule and the Moon After Yule, fall at the proper times relative to the solstices and equinoxes.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  38. Still a chance for a `true' blue moon ... by dougmc · · Score: 2, Informative
    This whole `second full moon in a month' thing is just stupid. Looks like there's already some interesting comments here about the original source of this idea.

    Fortunately, there is a chance of a real blue moon if you live near Anchorage, Alaska. Actually, it's not really a fortunate thing, because if this volcano does erupt and spew ash everywhere, it's a big mess. It mucks up your car, you don't want to breath it, it's almost caused airplanes to crash, etc. But it does have the possibility of causing the moon to appear truely blue.

  39. Less rare than you think... by Daniel+Ellard · · Score: 1
    The logic behind your math is incorrect... The months are not independent at all. In fact, they tend to nestle right up against each other.

    There's no need to use probability here; enumeration will do quite nicely. It makes things a little easier if we approximate the lunar period as exactly 28 days and pretend that the year starts on March 1st (so that leap years are easier to deal with).

    Starting at March 1st, there are 27 days on which the first full moon of the year can fall. It works out as: March 1: Blue moons in March, January. 2: March, February (if the next year is a leap year) 3: March 4,5: April 6,7,8: May 9,10: June 11,12,13: July 14,15,16: August 17,18: September 19,20,21: October 22,23: November 24,25,26: December 27: January So blue moons are even less rare than you thought. (Now someone with an almanac can check my memory...)

    --
    Disclaimer: I work for a company, but I don't speak for them.
  40. Sig. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Interesting
    Hey man, you do know that starcraft/brood war has been working under wine for a very long time?

    link to transgaming. This game will also work under wine (I've gotten it working personally), cedega makes things sooo much easier. It's not perfect; battle.net has font issues, but apparently it's not a big deal if you've played battle.net before.

    Note that transgaming says that brood war doesn't work, but it does; their game listing is not updated. I just recently installed brood wars in cedega 4 (formerly known as winex)

    1. Re:Sig. by TrickFred · · Score: 1

      So after seeing this comment, I read up on the software you mention here.

      It looked interesting, until I got to the part about the $5 a month subscription. Then I stopped reading. Why would I pay more to play a game I already own, just to have the priviledge of playing it on Linux [and admittedly, there are still a very few glithes]?

      No offense to the Linux purists, but as it is, 80% of the time, it's very easy to just install a game on Windows, and play it, no hassles. Once Linux reaches that ease of use, I'll be happy to use it.

  41. Woohoo by SlightOverdose · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm gonna get laid!

    1. Re:Woohoo by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not if you slightly overdose first...

  42. How it spread ..... by Alien54 · · Score: 1

    widespread adoption of the second-full-Moon-in-a-month definition followed its use on the popular radio program StarDate on January 31, 1980. We examined this show's script, authored by Deborah Byrd, and found that it contains a footnote not read on the air that cites Pruett's 1946 article as the source for the information. Byrd now writes for the radio program Earth & Sky, whose Web site contains a few short notes giving her perspective on this modern contribution to lunar folklore.

    --
    "It is a greater offense to steal men's labor, than their clothes"
  43. Shameless plug by cdf12345 · · Score: 0

    for my website www.bluemoonbikes.com

    If you like classic 70's Stingrays or other classic chopper bicycles, check it out!

    Do it today and feel extra special!

    --
    Chicago2600.net more than a lifestyle, its a survival trait.
  44. Great by narmer65 · · Score: 1

    Finally, SP2 will make Windows a stable, secure and robust operating system...

    What's that? Oh, I thought you said cows will be jumping over the moon. Wrong moon reference, sorry..

  45. Admire it while it lasts.... by abram10 · · Score: 2, Funny

    This type of thing happens only once in a blue moon.

  46. Blue photo at Astronomy Picture of the Day by jks · · Score: 2, Informative

    See also a pretty photo, along with some explanations of the term "blue moon".

  47. Moon Phase indicator for KDE is pretty cool... by wskellenger · · Score: 1
    I have it running in the System Tray, where it shows an icon version of the moon phase. Comes with the KDE desktop in Gentoo, located under "Toys".

    Written by Stephan Kulow.

  48. Blue Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Clearly this is "moon" you speak of is simply nothing more than IBM's newest supercomputer. The question is...can it play chess?

  49. Don't need dupes anymore... by lpangelrob2 · · Score: 0, Offtopic
    I guess this is the new /. alternative to dupes... posting about periodic, anticipated events that happen multiple times a year. :-)

    In this new category: IE exploits, IE patches, Firefox point-point releases, and PHP flamewars. I'm sure there's plenty of other things that can belong in this category...

    --
    -Rob
    Marriage doesn't have to suck!
  50. This is wrong on so many levels by ScienceMan · · Score: 1

    Most of the mistakes, commentary, etc. have been captured by previous posters (see notes on APOD picture, Sky and Telescope explaining their mistake that led to the popularization of the mistaken "two full moons in a month" idea, etc. But one problem with the original article remains to be fixed: Atmospheric scattering tends to make light from the Sun, moon etc. red not blue, if due to macroscopic particles, or just to wash out the sky color if due to water vapor, etc. The sky is blue under good conditions because you are viewing the off-angle scattering AWAY from the original light direction, strongly related to why sunsets are red (the blue light has been scattered out, most noticeable when the object shining the light is at the horizon and the light thus traverses the most atmosphere to reach you). Sigh...

    1. Re:This is wrong on so many levels by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      one problem with the original article remains to be fixed: Atmospheric scattering tends to make light from the Sun, moon etc. red not blue, if due to macroscopic particles, or just to wash out the sky color if due to water vapor, etc.

      I'm not sure which article you're accusing of being wrong, but atmospheric scatering _can_ cause the moon to appear blue, it just depends on the size of the particles doing the scattering.

    2. Re:This is wrong on so many levels by ScienceMan · · Score: 1

      Unlikely. The article you quote cites no source, and the explanation they give ("when seen from the right angle") does not seem to have any physical basis for the claim.

  51. Red Moon by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Around here when there is ash in the air the moon looks orange. I live in Washington where we get a lot of forest fires so it's not all that rare to see the moon through the filter of smoke and it's never looked blue to me.

  52. Let's not forget... by Wireless+Joe · · Score: 1

    ...that blue moons are also when new Smurfs are born! (Anyone else remember Baby Smurf?) The series went downhill after that; just like Growing Pains and Family Ties when they added a baby.

    Boy am I sleepy.

  53. Not for everyone tonight by henrym · · Score: 1

    Those of us on the other side of the dateline won't get our blue moon till the end of August. The full moon didn't officially happen until our August 1st (your July 31st), but luckily it all washes out in the end.

  54. The odds by barakn · · Score: 1

    Using a value of 29.53, there's a 1.47/31 chance in January, March, May, July, September, and December. There's a 0.47/30 chance in June, August, and November, and no chance in February. There's a (0.47-1/24)/(30-1/24) chance in April and a (1.47+1/24)/(31+1/24) chance in October (corrected for DST). This comes out to a probability of about .395 per year.

    --
    "I'm so moist I'm sticking to the leather." -Kermit the Frog on The Late Late Show
  55. Beautiful! by geekwench · · Score: 1

    Thanks to you, I have a new desktop background. Muchas gracias, vielen dänk, and et cetera for the link!
    /goes off to gloat over newest photo acquisition...

    --
    Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
  56. No, no; wrong reference entirely. by geekwench · · Score: 1

    It's "when pigs fly." Different species, even. ;)

    --
    Doing my level best to piss off the religious right wing...
  57. why it is called blue by cached · · Score: 1

    I heard about 2 years ago that the word blue comes from the early thought that the moon is made of cheese, and therefore it got the its name from the type of cheese it was beleived to be: bleu.

    --
    +1 funny, -2 overrated. Life isn't fair.
  58. For some of us, it's next month... by Sailor+Coruscant · · Score: 1

    The full moon occurs at 4am Sunday morning here in Australia, meaning that for us, the blue moon occurs next month.

  59. Moo by Chacham · · Score: 1

    This is hilarious. The idea that a month has to do with moons goes back to calenders that were moon based (Muslim Calender, and Jewish calender is partially). On them, there is exactly one full moon per month, being "full" on the fifteenth (or fourteenth, on the now one-day-off Jewish calender).

    The Gregorian and Julian calenders are solar based, however, being they have 31 days in some months, it is possible to have to full moon on both the first and 31st day of the month. That this is a rare occurence, is possibly worth noting, but this much atention seem absurd.

    --
    Have you read my journal today?
  60. Re:actual BLUE picture of moon (and Jupiter!) by puckylunk · · Score: 1

    Yeah, or if your camera has white balance settings, just white-balance it against something orange-ish to take an ACTUAL BLUE picture of the moon, or anything.

    What I'm impressed about in that photo is Jupiter and its moons. It looks like a weird lens flare or something.