Wednesday, August 21, 2013

A rare Blue Moon in the sky

This month's full-of-the-moon, is not only just a "Blue Moon" -- it is equally all of the Sturgeon Moon, all of the Red Moon, the Green Corn Moon along with the Grain Moon.

Tuesday night's full-of-the-moon qualifies being a Blue Moon because oahu is the third full moon in the season with four (most seasons only have three). Historically, we have seen two different definitions for just a Blue Moon.  It will become a Red Moon along with a Sturgeon Moon!

Is it doesn't last Blue Moon we'll see until 2015 -- and will also be visible until Wednesday morning.

In astronomy, a BLUE MOON is really thought as your third full phase of the moon inside a four-full-moon season. We'll have four full moons on this summer season when we stood a full moon soon after the beginning of summer, one in July, the existing full moon and another more next month, ahead of autumn begins.

The commonly believed specification of a Blue Moon being your second full phase of the moon in a thirty day period emanates from a write-up in "Sky & Telescope" magazine long ago in 1946!  That article mistakenly defined it your second full-of-the-moon in a single month (since most months simply have one full), which definition gained traction which is still widely held even today.

Because August may have that one full phase of the moon, it would not fulfill the mistaken, though common, definition for just a Blue Moon.

The moon's extra names originate from various lore during the last 300 years. Native American tribes in what's now the northeastern United States kept track of seasons by ascribing particular names to every full. Later, European settlers added their unique names to the full moons for the lexicon.

The term Red Moon comes from the point that late summer forest fires often send significant amounts of smoke in to the atmosphere.  The smoke particles filter out the shorter (blue) wavelengths of sunshine, leaving the moon that has a reddish appearance.

The Grain Moon and Corn Moon names are considered to be in the early settlers who plant from the calendar and -- by this time of the year -- the grain and corn could be tall from the fields, just about ready for that harvest -- which incorporates another full moon!

The annual August full has also grown to be the Full Sturgeon Moon, because the large fish called sturgeon can most be easily caught currently of year. The name originated from tribes who caught this fish in bodies of water such as the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain.