Blue Moon for New Years

It's been one year since my last moon video. Last night I went outside and saw something just as spectacular, a blue moon! This occurs about once every 2.5 years, and only once every 19 years does it happen on New Years! If you go outside TONIGHT 12/31/09 you should be able to catch one last glimpse! Full moon video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPWxcAmqGR0

Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue — the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.

A full moon occurred on Dec. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the full moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse on New Year's Eve when part of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The eclipse will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month — a blue moon — occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.

Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"`Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a `hunter's moon' or a `harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the error decades later, the definition caught on. For purists, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a blue moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.

In a tongue-in-cheek essay posted on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm out celebrating, I'll take a peek at that brilliant orb as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."

source: yahoo.com

Category:

Education

Tags:

• blue
• moon
• full
• new
• years
• astrology
• clouds
• stars
• planet
• 2010
• eve
• times

[pinkgal109]

Cool moon :)love and peace to you :)

[PlaceProductions]

@pinkgal109 Glad you enjoyed! Same to you :)

[kenth65]

great It's Blue. you edit it or not?

[PlaceProductions]

@kenth65 Nope. That's untouched footage. The white balance may not have been perfect, but that's how it looked.

[emily19981]

@insane355 wait another 19 years -_-

[emily19981]

thats blue O_O

[reksub10]

what is happening position wise with the sun and moon and earth to make a full moon ? and is there a time when we cant see the moon atall? cheers im new to all this

[momsgone]

great video. I was born on a bluemoon. 43 yrs ago.

[insane355]

whens the next blue moom??

[xxxborednowxxx]

so interesting thanks for sharing

[inquieta89]

i saw that today at 12:42am it was on march 1st and its a blue moon too. the ring was huge it looked super cool and so magical. i though i was tripping but two of my friends were with me and they saw it as well!!! super cool i really felt honered lol hope you guys see it sometime...make a wish