In August we had the opportunity to watch a rare astronomical event, which witnessed two times the full moon. The first full moon took place on August 1, 2012 and the second followed a full moon on August 31, 2012.
A number of almanacs and calendars states, when the two moon occurs in a calendar month, the second full moon is called a blue moon. Despite the so-called blue moon, it does not mean the moon is blue.
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| Blue moon. (Picture from: http://www.metrolic.com/) |
The full moon on that night will look the same as regular full moon. Luminous white surface. But in fact the moon was able to change color under certain conditions.
After forest fires or volcanic eruptions, the moon will appear blue, even purple. Ash and soot particles, which flew far up into the Earth's atmosphere, can make the moon appear bluish.
Smoke from widespread forest fires in western Canada created a blue moon is seen throughout eastern North America in late September 1950.
Major eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in June 1991 led to the moon, even the sun, bluish around the world.
The term "blue moon" in the event of two full moon in a calendar month actually first appeared in 1824 and refers to a rare occurrence, though fairly common. Blue moon occurs every 2.66 years. In 1999, it happened twice in the span of just three months.
But not everyone can see a blue moon in August. For those who live in the region of Kamchatka in the Russian Far East as well as the citizens of New Zealand, the moon will take place after midnight so it falls on 1 September 2012.
"For them, a new blue moon occurs in the month of September as they watched two full moon," said Joe Rao, an instructor and guest lecturer at the Hayden Planetarium, New York. "You have to wait until 30 September 2012 to declare it as a blue moon." *** [SPACE | KORAN TEMPO 3958]
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