Join the most popular community of UK swingers now
Login
When is the moon blue ?
last reply
15 replies
782 views
0 watchers
0 likes
Sex God
you have to see the moon standing alone without a love of its own for it to be blue.
The boring answer is a blue moon is the term used when a month has two full moons. The second of these full moons is called a blue moon.
They are relatively rare (8 so far in the past 18 years) and the next blue moon is actually New Years Eve this year (1st Full moon is on 2nd Dec 2009, 2nd on 31st).
I'll put my anorak away now.
EDIT : If you mean the actual colour blue, it's just atmospheric effects that give the moon it's apparent colour. When it is low on the horizon and there's lots of dust in the atmosphere it can appear reddish or orangey at times. As it rises in the sky the effects of the dust are lessened and it seems to return to it's normal colour. It seldom appears truly blue however, not unless someone's had a serious smurf outgassing in the local vicinity.
They are relatively rare (8 so far in the past 18 years) and the next blue moon is actually New Years Eve this year (1st Full moon is on 2nd Dec 2009, 2nd on 31st).
I'll put my anorak away now.
EDIT : If you mean the actual colour blue, it's just atmospheric effects that give the moon it's apparent colour. When it is low on the horizon and there's lots of dust in the atmosphere it can appear reddish or orangey at times. As it rises in the sky the effects of the dust are lessened and it seems to return to it's normal colour. It seldom appears truly blue however, not unless someone's had a serious smurf outgassing in the local vicinity.
Sex God
Once in a blue Moon
The phrase 'once in a blue Moon' is a familiar one meaning once in a very long interval of time. The phrase goes back to at least 1824 when an explanation of its meaning appears as a footnote attached to its use. It is not absolutely clear what is the origin of this phrase but the rare blue colouring of the moon is the most likely. A possible astronomical explanation also is given below.
Two Full Moons in one month
The use of the phrase 'blue Moon' when there are two Full Moons in one calendar month appears to be spreading. The author has no knowledge of the origin of this usage but suspects that it has been 'back-derived' from the phrase denoting rarity with a rather misconceived idea that it is an uncommon thing for there to be two Full Moons in any one month.
For example, between 1984 and 2000 there were two full moons in the following months:
* July 1985
* May 1988
* December 1990
* September 1993
* July 1996
* January 1999
* March 1999
It can be seen that in 1999 there were two such months with only February between them. It could well be said this is not rare enough a phenomenon to qualify for the normal use of the phrase 'once in a blue Moon'.
The phrase 'once in a blue Moon' may be used often enough, yet it’s true meaning has recently been revealed. A blue Moon, by folklore definition is said to be the second Full Moon of the month. However, researchers at Southwest Texas State University have been using historical documents to prove that a blue Moon was really a term that was used by the Marine Farmers’ Almanac as a calendrical meaning to indicate the presence of a 13th Full Moon in a tropical year which usually had 12. A tropical year is a measurement of time from one winter solstice to the next.
When the Moon appears blue
There are rare occasions when the disk of the Moon appears to take on a bluish tint. These should not be confused with contrast effects in which the Moon appears blue because the viewer's eye has been `fooled' by a bright red light. Such an appearance can result from the Moon being seen next to a cloud which is strongly illuminated by the red setting Sun. By contrast, the Moon appears to be green but after the Sun's light has gone the Moon's appearance returns to normal.
A similar effect can be seen by campers sitting around the red light of a camp-fire. Their eyes become attuned to the bright red light of the fire and the Moon then appears greenish by contrast. To anyone whose eyes are not affected by the red firelight, however, the Moon appears normal.
On very rare occasions, however, the Moon does appear to have a bluish hue. This occurs after a violent volcanic eruption or, occasionally, after a big forest fire. The particles in the smoke, or in the volcanic dust, can be of just the right size to scatter the light preferentially in the red so as to leave an excess of blue light in the Moon's image. These rare events give rise to the origin of the phrase.
Dead clever me innit :giggle:
The phrase 'once in a blue Moon' is a familiar one meaning once in a very long interval of time. The phrase goes back to at least 1824 when an explanation of its meaning appears as a footnote attached to its use. It is not absolutely clear what is the origin of this phrase but the rare blue colouring of the moon is the most likely. A possible astronomical explanation also is given below.
Two Full Moons in one month
The use of the phrase 'blue Moon' when there are two Full Moons in one calendar month appears to be spreading. The author has no knowledge of the origin of this usage but suspects that it has been 'back-derived' from the phrase denoting rarity with a rather misconceived idea that it is an uncommon thing for there to be two Full Moons in any one month.
For example, between 1984 and 2000 there were two full moons in the following months:
* July 1985
* May 1988
* December 1990
* September 1993
* July 1996
* January 1999
* March 1999
It can be seen that in 1999 there were two such months with only February between them. It could well be said this is not rare enough a phenomenon to qualify for the normal use of the phrase 'once in a blue Moon'.
The phrase 'once in a blue Moon' may be used often enough, yet it’s true meaning has recently been revealed. A blue Moon, by folklore definition is said to be the second Full Moon of the month. However, researchers at Southwest Texas State University have been using historical documents to prove that a blue Moon was really a term that was used by the Marine Farmers’ Almanac as a calendrical meaning to indicate the presence of a 13th Full Moon in a tropical year which usually had 12. A tropical year is a measurement of time from one winter solstice to the next.
When the Moon appears blue
There are rare occasions when the disk of the Moon appears to take on a bluish tint. These should not be confused with contrast effects in which the Moon appears blue because the viewer's eye has been `fooled' by a bright red light. Such an appearance can result from the Moon being seen next to a cloud which is strongly illuminated by the red setting Sun. By contrast, the Moon appears to be green but after the Sun's light has gone the Moon's appearance returns to normal.
A similar effect can be seen by campers sitting around the red light of a camp-fire. Their eyes become attuned to the bright red light of the fire and the Moon then appears greenish by contrast. To anyone whose eyes are not affected by the red firelight, however, the Moon appears normal.
On very rare occasions, however, the Moon does appear to have a bluish hue. This occurs after a violent volcanic eruption or, occasionally, after a big forest fire. The particles in the smoke, or in the volcanic dust, can be of just the right size to scatter the light preferentially in the red so as to leave an excess of blue light in the Moon's image. These rare events give rise to the origin of the phrase.
Dead clever me innit :giggle:
The phrase “Once in a Blue Moon†appears to have been a colloquial expression long before it developed its astronomical sense. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first reference to a blue moon comes from a proverb recorded in 1528: “If they say the moon is blue, we must believe that it is
:giggle:
