Blue Moon Brings in New Year

[pameladlloyd]

This year, New Year's Eve falls on a blue moon. A blue moon is the second full moon in a month, which occurs only once every two and a half years. The last blue moon to fall on New Year's was in 1990, and the next will occur in 2028.

In honor of the event, I'm sharing this video, which came to me via intertext:

ETA: SurLaLune has a great post on Blue Moon Folklore. 2nd ETA: Also a post on New Year Folklore.

Comments

[cedunkley.livejournal.com]

I thought it was a Blue Moon tonight as well but I came across an interesting article that revealed what we believe to be a Blue Moon to be incorrect.

It turns out the second full moon within a month isn't actually a blue moon. It came about as a mistake made by Sky And Telescope magazine in the early part of the 20th century by misreading the Farmer's Almanac in Maine.

It turns out that a Blue Moon is the Third Full Moon within the same season when the season contains 4 full moons instead of the usual 3.

And the 3rd full moon is named the Blue Moon instead of the 4th because there are other named moons that would fall out of synch with their seasonal occurences if the 3rd wasn't named the Blue Moon.

Here's a link explaining the whole thing:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3304131.html?page=1&c=y

[pdlloyd.livejournal.com]

The meaning of the term has changed with time. SurLaLune's post on Blue Moon Folklore (http://surlalunefairytales.blogspot.com/2009/12/blue-moon-folklore.html) discusses some of the historical context, as well. :)