Sunday, September 24, 2017

Blue Moon



While "Blue Moon" may have been a great song it is not the only meaning for the term. A True Blue Moon happens when the moon appears to a casual observer as being bluish in color. Many things from smoke or dust particles can help change the color of the moon. The forest fires in Sweden and Canad in 1950 and '51 helped create a bluish color on the moon. Many spoke of a blue moon after the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption in 1980 as well as the Mount Pinatubo in 1991.



The visual of a blue moon occurs when the wavelength of red light is hidden by larger particles slightly wider with no other particles present. Blue moons are rare but occur at times during volcanic eruptions or forest fires. Ash and dust clouds caused by fires and storms normally contain a mix of particles with wide range of sizes. These particles tend to create blue light. Red moons are created during this process and are more common than blue moons.

The farmer's almanac states that a moon can also be considered "blue moon" when there are three full moons in a season of four full moons. In this thinking blue moons have occurred or will occur on:
  • 2009: December 2, December 31 (partial lunar eclipse visible in some parts of the world), only in time zones west of UTC+05.
  • 2010: January 1 (partial lunar eclipse), January 30, only in time zones east of UTC+04:30.
  • 2010: March 1, March 30, only in time zones east of UTC+07.
  • 2012: August 2, August 31, only in time zones west of UTC+10.
  • 2012: September 1, September 30, only in time zones east of UTC+10:30.
  • 2015: July 2, July 31.
  • 2018: January 2, January 31, only in time zones west of UTC+11.
  • 2018: March 2, March 31, only in time zones west of UTC+12.
  • 2020: October 1, October 31 only in time zones west of UTC+10.

As I stated before "Blue Moon" is also a popular song 
"Once in a Very Blue Moon" another song about the blue moon was wrote by Patrick Alger and recorded by Nanci Griffith in 1984. 
Yet another song released in 1990 was wrote and recorded by Traveling Wilburys. The title of this song was "New Blue Moon"  

There are many songs that mention and have the title of the "Blue Moon" One of my personal favorites is "Blue Moon of Kentucky" It is a bluegrass song that was wrote by Bill Monroe in 1946

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