answersLogoWhite

0

A blue moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but in addition to those twelve full lunar cycles, each calendar year contains an excess of roughly eleven days. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years (on average about every 2.7154 years) there is an extra full moon. The extra moon is called a "blue moon."

User Avatar

Wiki User

15y ago

What else can I help you with?

Continue Learning about Natural Sciences

What is the lunar event blue moon?

The "blue moon" is the second full moon in the same calendar month.The complete cycle of moon phases is 29 days and a fraction; so you see that if there's a full moonon the 1st or 2nd of the month, then there can be another one before the end of the month.This December (2009) will have full moons on the 2nd and 31st ... the first blue moon in over 1-1/2 years.


Can you tell me the moons phase from Dec18-Dec24?

For December 2009: New moon is on Dec. 16, 12:02 UTC, first quarter is on Dec. 24, 17:36 UTC, full moon is on Dec. 31, 19:13 UTC. Data from Kosmos Himmelsjahr 2009.For December 2009: New moon is on Dec. 16, 12:02 UTC, first quarter is on Dec. 24, 17:36 UTC, full moon is on Dec. 31, 19:13 UTC. Data from Kosmos Himmelsjahr 2009.For December 2009: New moon is on Dec. 16, 12:02 UTC, first quarter is on Dec. 24, 17:36 UTC, full moon is on Dec. 31, 19:13 UTC. Data from Kosmos Himmelsjahr 2009.For December 2009: New moon is on Dec. 16, 12:02 UTC, first quarter is on Dec. 24, 17:36 UTC, full moon is on Dec. 31, 19:13 UTC. Data from Kosmos Himmelsjahr 2009.


What are the names of the two full moons in one month?

That's a "Blue Moon" . . . the second Full Moon in the same CALENDAR month.The cycle of moon-phases is 29 days, so there has to be a full moon on the 1st or 2nd of the month,in order to have another one before the end of the month.December 2009 will have Full Moons on the 2nd and the 31st. That will be the first time in a little over 3 years.


What was the moon phase for the 19 of December?

Phase of the Moon on 19 December: waxing crescent with 10% of the Moon's visible disk illuminated. New Moon on 16 December 2009 at 4:03 a.m. Pacific Standard Time.


Why do things happen in a blue moon?

The term "blue moon" comes from folklore. Different traditions and conventions place the extra "blue" full moon at different times in the year .In calculating the dates for Lent and Easter the Clergy identify the Lent Moon. It is thought that historically when the moons timing was too early, they named an earlier moon as a "betrayer moon" (belewe moon), thus the Lent moon came at its expected time.Folklore gave each moon a name according to its time of year. A moon that came too early had no folk name, and was called a blue moon, retaining the correct seasonal timings for future moons .The Farmers Almanac defined blue moon as an extra full moon that occurred in a season; one season was normally three full moons. If a season had four full moons, then the third full moon was named a blue moon.Recent popular usage defined a blue moon as the second full moon in a calendar month, stemming from an interpretation error made in 1946 that was discovered in 1999. For example, December 31, 2009 was a blue moon according to this usage.A "blue moon" is also used colloquially to mean "a rare event", reflected in the phrase "once in a blue moon". The most literal meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and 1951

Related Questions

When is the full moon in December 2009?

December 2, and then, as a big, New Year's eve blue moon, on December 31.


When was the last blue moon in December?

The last one was December 31st 1990. The next one is December 31st, 2009.


If a blue moon occurs at the end of June 2007 when is another blue moon likely?

It will occur on December 31, 2009.


Does blue moon occur twice every year?

No, it varies. A blue moon is a second full moon in a calender month - December 2009 was the last blue moon.


Is there anything significant about the blue moon in December 2009?

A Blue moon is the second full moon in a month. It happens only once in a while, therefore the old saying "Once in a blue moon."


How long will the lunar eclipse last in dec 31 2009?

Its December 31st 2009, there is no lunar eclipse for me. But there is a Blue Moon. 2nd full moon of the month... and It is big and bright tonight.


When will there be a blue moon?

*Note* You cannot "see" a "blue" moon as in the colour. It is just a term - see related link. No "blue moons will occur in 2011. December of 2009 - it's when there are two full moons in one month.


What are the release dates for Out of the Blue - 2009?

Out of the Blue - 2009 was released on: USA: December 2009


What is the date of the waxing crescent moon in December 2009?

December 21


When will the next blue moon appear?

Blue Moon meaning 2nd full moon in a month will be December 2 and 31 2009.The farmer almanac has a different definition and I am not sure of the dates they say.A "blue moon" occurs every time the moon appears full twice in the same month.


When will there be waning moon phases in December?

The word "waning" means "decreasing". The Full moon is on December 2, 2009, so from December 3 to the new moon on December 16, the Moon will be "waning".After the new moon, the Moon is increasing in illumination, which is called "waxing".


What was the moon's phase December 2 2009?

The Moon was full on 12/2/09.