Blue moon when does it occur

This means that February will never have a Blue Moon. Which one is correct? Well, since language and the meaning of words constantly evolve — take your pick. Both are commonly used today and either definition is considered valid.

As Texas astronomer Donald W. But that's not necessarily a bad thing. The next Blue Moon will be on Aug. The next monthly Blue Moon a second full moon that appears in a single month will be Aug. The last one was on Aug. There was also seasonal Blue Moon on Saturday, May 18, Related: Rare Blue Moon, the last until , wows stargazers photos.

The phrase "once in a Blue Moon" has been around for more than years, according to Philip Hiscock, a folklorist at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Most of the time, a season winter, spring, summer, or fall contains three full Moons. However, if the dates of the full Moons and the seasons line up just right, a season may end up containing four full Moons instead.

If that happens, the third full Moon of the season is called a seasonal Blue Moon! Venture outside just after sunset and keep an eye on it through the night to see it swim slowly across the sky! Learn all about it on our August Full Moon page! Need a refresher on what a Blue Moon actually is? We get a lot of questions about the term, including:. Although the latter definition is the one more commonly followed today, the former actually came first.

As mentioned above, a misinterpretation of the seasonal definition in the s gave way to the calendrical definition, which was later popularized in the 80s and has stuck around to today. As of this writing, the next Blue Moon according to either definition will occur on August 22, , as described in detail above. Turns out, calendrical Blue Moons happen every 30 months on average.

Two and a half years. Seasonal Blue Moons happen at a similar rate: about once every two to three years. But how often do we have two Blue Moons in a single year? Want to learn more about the Moon? From the beautiful stars and planets to magical auroras and eclipses, he covers everything under the Sun and Moon! Hey Bob, I noticed that both January and March of have a "Blue Moon," and as a consequence, sandwiched in between is February with no full moon at all.

It might be fun to calculate the odds of this occurrence and come up with a fun name for it. Whenever the moon is low it looks absolutely enormous. This is the famous "Moon Illusion. Last night me and my 5 year old grandson went out to see the moon. He said it is so big about that time he grabbed me and said why is the mooonn moving it appeared to be jumping left and right also up and down what causes this?

Last nights full moon did apear here,East tuscaloosa Co. Yellow afew min. I think This is a rare phenomonom that sarted the term. I believe I have read of this.

I feel the origonal use was based on this and had mothing to do with calender days. Also we are wasting valuble sleep time debating this. Good night. Still would like other coment if others have acully seen a blue moon. I took a excellent picture of the blue moon tonight. My grandchildren the Twins thought it was an actual blue moon, funny. Beautiful glow of brightness with the grayish crater to be seen.

Can another event be seen in August through the telescope for the grand children? The song 'Blue Moon' was written in so the 's couldn't have been the source of the terminology. I'm not sure that's what he's getting at. He's just saying that "Once in a Blue Moon" is now a common expression that means something rarely happens. But in the world of astronomy, a "Blue Moon" the second full Moon in a month is not really a rare event.

It happens every 2 to 3 years. Both types of blue moons come around roughly every two or three years, although monthly blue moons are slightly more frequent. The next seasonal blue moon will appear on August 19, , according to TimeAndDate. These definitions have nothing to do with the color of the moon. Sometimes, however, the moon does actually appear blue, although this phenomenon is uncommon and only occurs under specific conditions.

The moon can appear blue when the atmosphere above a given location is filled with ash or dust particles of just the right size, according to SpaceWeather. Thus, in incredibly rare circumstances, it is possible that a seasonal or monthly blue moon may actually appear blue in color from some locations. But what is a blue moon and how often do they occur?