It Is Once In A ‘Blue Moon’ Tonight
November 21st, 2010 - 9:29 pm ICT by GDBy Meena Kar
Nov 21, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The popular English proverb, “Once In A Blue Moon” holds true today. Today, the world will witness a rare sight in the sky. Contrary to the popular and false belief that the moon turns blue in color on this particular day, it just means an additional full moon in a particular season. It can rather be called a calender oddity.
Today’s moon is the third of four full moons in a season. This extra Full moon that repeats itself in every two or three years, has created the proverb, “Once In A Blue Moon”, that dramatically defines something rare. The latest definition of blue moon refers to the third of four full moons in one season. In this case, the season is not the usual six seasons of the year. A season refers to time period between a solstice and an equinox. According to the old Maine Farmer’s Almanac definition, in most cases there are only three full moons in a season. In this context, the November full moon may be regarded as the “Seasonal Blue moon” as it is the third of the four full moons that is supposed to fall between September equinox and the December solstice.
The fourth full moon of a season is, however, not called a blue moon. This is because the almanac makers have given a particular name to each full moon, depending on its relative placement in the year’s two equinoxes and two solstices. According to the upcoming solar calender, the next blue moon will occur on August 31, 2012, to be followed by May 21, 2016.
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Tags: almanac, contrary, english proverb, equinox, equinoxes, false belief, full moon, full moons, kar, maine farmer, next blue moon, oddity, rare sight, relative placement, seasons of the year, september equinox, solar calender, solstice, solstices, time period