Blue Moon

[Mullins, Bill]

Two good articles from Sky & Telescope magazine on the origins of the
phrase:

"Once in a Blue Moon"
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/article_377_1.asp

"What's a Blue Moon?"
http://skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/article_127_1.asp




> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Kysilko [mailto:pds at VISI.COM]
> Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2004 2:49 PM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
> Subject: Blue Moon
>
>
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Tom Kysilko <pds at VISI.COM>
> Subject:      Blue Moon
> --------------------------------------------------------------
> -----------------
>
>  From the [Minneapolis] Star Tribune:
>
> Blue moon rises over Minnesota this weekend
> July 30, 2004
>
> If it happens once in a blue moon, you might expect it on Saturday.
>
> That evening will bring the month's second full moon -- the
> currently accepted definition of a blue moon. July's other
> full moon was July 2.
>
> [Comment:  This definition is accepted by people of my
> acquaintance who think about it at all; however, I believe
> that acceptance comes from its repitition by newspaper, TV,
> and radio weather reporters over the last several years.
> OED1, M-W3, and RHUD2 do not mention this definition.  OED1's
> 1525 cite has 'moon is blewe' in a counterfactual context.
> M-W3 refers (1) to a long period of time with no reference to
> astronomical phenomena and (2) to the very rare occasions
> when the moon appears blue due to meteorological conditions.
> RHUD2 only mentions a non-astronomical, non-meteorolical long
> time usage, dating it from 1815-20.  Nevertheless, the
> newswriter appears to have done some research, as the sequel reveals.]
>
> The last blue moon in these parts was on Halloween 2001; the
> next one will come June 30, 2007.
>
> Blue moon talk appears to go back several centuries.
> Throughout history, some huge natural cataclysms -- volcanoes
> and forest fires -- have thrown particles into the atmosphere
> that have actually made the moon appear blue.
>
> By the 1800s, the occasional occurrence known as a blue moon
> was the fourth full moon in a three-month season. But the
> term was transformed to mean the second full moon in a
> calendar month by an article in an astronomy magazine in
> 1946, the author of which later acknowledged having
> misinterpreted the earlier meaning.
>
> So far, he's had the last word. And under the old definition,
> there wouldn't be a blue moon this year.
>
> Bill McAuliffe
> -------------------
>
>    Tom Kysilko        Practical Data Services
>    pds at visi.com       Saint Paul MN USA
>            http://www.visi.com/~pds
>