Sunday, September 18, 2005

Shine On

Shine on Harvest Moon.

I hope that you're enjoying the Full Moon, it was beautiful last evening as I walked home from The Boyfriends around 8:30 or so.

The air was crisp but not cold and the moon was low on the horizon so it looked beautiful against the backdrop of the city.

Did you know that every full moon has a name?

September's full moon is the Harvest Moon, read about it here.

Anybody know what a "Blue Moon" is? No cheating by googling, give your best guess.

*****ANSWERS FOLLOW******STOP READING IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW*****

Here are all the references I found to a "Blue Moon"

1. A "Blue Moon" is considered the second full moon in a month.

2. A "Blue Moon" is also the third full moon in a season, so there are potentially 4 a year.

3. After the fall of the Roman Empire it was important for the church to determine Church Holidays so it was based off of the lunar calendar (i.e. Easter) and there are 12 full moons in a year (so one per month) but sometimes there are 13 in a year, so the Church called that a "Blue Moon"

4. Per Veggie - it is true that the moon can appear blue due to atmospheric conditions.

Check out this link which tells a lot more than I can put here.

8 comments:

Karen said...

If I remember correctly it is when there are two full moons within the same calendar month. Now can I google it??

Kat said...

I think Karen is right! I saw it on Charmed. ;)

But I am so gonna google to double check!

Ms Mac said...

Oh yes, I knew that about a blue moon, I just wasn't here early enough.

*didn't actually know it at all*

clew said...

Karen got it. I knew it too, but then again I'm a geek ;)

Katya Coldheart said...

i had no idea, so i'm going with Karens answer...

isn't harvest moon an album by neil young...lol

:0)

Karen said...

Okay, I didn't google, but I did Wikipedia it and now I know much more than before. But, I will hold my tongue for the moment!!

Michael Lehet said...

Karen is correct on one definition of a blue moon.

There are two more that I'm aware of as well, anyone want to keep guessing?

Michael Lehet said...

Ok Veggie, since there are "multiple" answers I'll give you credit for that.

But we're still waiting for a few more explanations...someone's gotta know?