I heard there is going to be a blue moon soon , is it true what does it mean?

Although the full moon that occurred Thursday, May 31, 2007, looked like an ordinary full moon, it was actually a bit extraordinary鈥攁 blue moon.





What is a Blue Moon?


There are in fact two definitions for a blue moon. According to the more recent definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. For a blue moon to occur, the first of the full moons must appear at or near the beginning of the month so that the second will fall within the same month (the average span between two moons is 29.5 days). May 2007 had two full moons: the first on May 2, the second on May 31鈥攖hat second full moon was called the blue moon.





Note that the May 31 date applies to most of the Western Hemisphere, including the United States. In the Eastern Hemisphere, the full moon in question occured on June 1. For that half of the world, the blue moon will be on June 30, 2007.





The Other Kind of Blue Moon


An older definition for the blue moon is recorded in early issues of the Maine Farmer's Almanac. According to this definition, the blue moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. Why would one want to identify the third full moon in a season of four full moons? The answer is complex, and has to do with the Christian ecclesiastical calendar.





Some years have an extra full moon鈥攖hirteen instead of twelve. Since the identity of the moons was important in the ecclesiastical calendar (the Paschal Moon, for example, used to be crucial for determining the date of Easter), a year with a thirteenth moon skewed the calendar, since there were names for only twelve moons. By identifying the extra, thirteenth moon as a blue moon, the ecclesiastical calendar was able to stay on track.





For a fuller explanation see http://www.inconstantmoon.com/cyc_blue.h鈥?/a> For more background information on the controversy over the two definitions of blue moon, see the Sky and Telescope article, ';What's a Blue Moon?'; In it they explain how the two different definitions of a blue moon came about鈥攊ncluding their own role in introducing the second, modern definition.





A Star Rating for the Modern Blue Moon


Although Sky %26amp; Telescope calls the modern blue moon definition ';trendy'; and a ';mistake,'; the fact that there is an older, preexisting (and more complicated) definition does not necessarily make it the more interesting or meaningful definition. Charting the ';third full moon in four full moons'; in a season isn't everyone's idea of an fascinating enterprise. The modern, ';trendy'; definition, however, points to an intriguing astronomical phenomenon鈥攅very so often two moons can manage to position themselves in the same month. Given that full moons occur once every 29.5 days, this is quite an accomplishment!





How Often Does a Blue Moon Occur?


Over the next twenty years there will be a total of 17 blue moons, with an almost equal number of both types of blue moons occurring. No blue moon of any kind will occur in the years 2006, 2011, 2014, and 2017.





The more recent phenomenon, where the blue moon is considered to be the second full moon in a calendar month, last occurred on July 31, 2004. Two full moons in one month may occur in any month out of the year except for February, which is shorter than the lunar cycle.





The other, older blue moon event, which happens when there are four full moons in a season, last occured in August 2005. Since this type of blue moon is reckoned according to the seasons, it can only occur in February, May, August, or November, about a month before the equinox or the solstice.





Twice in a Blue Moon


The rare phenomenon of two blue moons (using the more recent definitition) occurring in the same year happens approximately once every 19 years. 1999 was the last time a blue moon appeared twice, in January and March.





The months of the double blue moons are almost always January and March. That is because the short month that falls in between them, February, is a key ingredient in this once-every-nineteen-year phenomenon. For January and March to each have two full moons, it's necessary for February to have none at all. Since February is usually 28 days long, and the average span between full moons is 29.5 days, if a full moon occurs at the end of January, it's possible for the next full moon to skip February entirely and fall in the beginning of March.





Once in a Blue Moon


';Blue moon'; appears to have been a colloquial expression long before it developed its calendrical senses. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first reference to a blue moon comes from a proverb recorded in 1528:





If they say the moon is blue,


We must believe that it is true.


Saying the moon was blue was equivalent to saying the moon was made of green (or cream) cheese; it indicated an obvious absurdity. In the 19th century, the phrase until a blue moon developed, meaning ';never.'; The phrase, once in a blue moon today has come to mean ';every now and then'; or ';rarely';鈥攚hether it gained that meaning through association with the lunar event remains uncertain.I heard there is going to be a blue moon soon , is it true what does it mean?
A ';blue Moon'; isn't blue at all. It's just an accident of the calendar, the second of two full Moon's falling in the same month. This happened last month in the western hemisphere, and will happen this month in the eastern hemisphere, because of the difference of time zones. A ';blue Moon'; doesn't look any different than any other full Moon.I heard there is going to be a blue moon soon , is it true what does it mean?
It was a few weeks ago. sorry you missed it :(
';blue moon'; is real but rare, the moon gets a slight blue tinge
A blue moon is when a full moon happens twice in the same month. In this case, it will be June 30th. It has nothing to do with coloration or anything happening on the moon. Then a black moon happens whenever there are 2 blue moons in the same year, as they tend to happen every 4 years or so. In mythology and folklore, any magic worked on a black moon is though to be especially strong.
I was told years ago that a ';blue moon'; is the second full moon within the same month.








Or it could be Papa Smurf dropping is shorts.
The moon goes through a cyclic event of phases every 27 days and each phase only appears once every 27 days. New moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon,waning gibbous, last quarter and waning crescent and new moon again but on rare occasions a full moon appears twice in the phase cycle and it is called a blue moon but it is very rarely ever blue.
Nothing exciting just the 2nd full moon in a mounth.