Thursday, December 31, 2009

Blue Over The Moon

This is a special New Year's, we have a blue moon - which I can't see at all - because of time zones only the Western hemisphere will see it - but it's just fantastic knowing it's up there. It's not truly blue of course, but at times appears to be as a result of the bluish halo caused by ice particles high up in earth's atmosphere. After Krakatoa erupted in 1883 it stayed a deep blue for months - smoke and dust can tint objects in the sky. Who cares, we're addicted to the idea!You probably remember the reason: if a month has two full moons, the second is considered a blue moon. It happens pretty rarely, once in a blue moon you might say (o geez) but actually, it comes out to about 41 months in each century. Not that often, so very special - and when we have one seeing in a new year like this, it all ties in nicely with predictions of every kind. Here's some interesting facts:

Our concept of the blue moon began with a mistake in a magazine article. Of all publications, Sky & Telescope in 1946 published a story that described it as the second of two full moons in one month - they based their decision on the 1937 Maine Farmers Almanac but misinterpreted its meaning. Instead of being counted as an extra full moon in a month, it was counted as an extra one in a season! It was finally corrected when someone noticed the gaffe in "Trivial Pursuit" now who'd have guessed?The phrase "blue moon" however, is much older than this astronomical definition and originally had nothing to do with the rarity of two full moons in a month. 400 years ago, a blue moon meant something absurd and clearly untrue, and the average 16th century human would argue "Never in a blue moon" if he thought something was impossible.

Another famous superstition is that it's the only time a woman can ask a man for his hand in marriage. How sweet! Give the guys a break now and then.

About, say - once in a blue moon?






18 comments:

Anne said...

That last sentence was pretty darn clever. Do you remember the song, Blue Moon? How about The Blue Moon Detective Agency? Anne

Joan said...

Last night we went into our kitchen about 11-30pm and it wa like daylight we have deep snow just now and the moon was so bright I could have read a book. Thank you for all the facts about the moon found them very interesting. I hope you have a Happy New Year and all is good for you . Love Joan.

ADB said...

Happy new year, Kathy, looking forward to many more postings from you!

Guido

Barbara In Caneyhead said...

Blue moon makes for good song material: "Blue moon, you saw me standing alone..." "Blue moon of Kentucky keep on shining...", etc.

Nice to know a little more about it. Thanks! And a Happy New Year to you!

Coelha :B said...

Ha ha ha... Love how you ended your entry! :) Have a great new year of blogging! :) Julie

tony said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR (again!)

Ben said...

It's more complicated even than that, dear. Rogers and Hart wrote a song called, "Prayer" for a 1934 film called, "Hollywood Party." When the song was removed from the film, they reworked the song as "The Bad in Every Man," and it was sung in the movie "Manhattan Melodrama," the movie Dillinger had just seen at the Biograph Theater when he walked out and was shot down. Finally, they reworked it again as the song we know today as "Blue Moon."

I love that you really do dare to think.

Happy New Year...
Ben
http://ben-better-left-unsaid.blogspot.com/

Joann said...

I SAW the blue moon, it was amazing!! But I had NO IDEA that I could request a man's hand in marriage... DARN!!! I missed my chance!!! LOL!!!

pam said...

Happy New Year My Starlady. Loving the Blue Moon Stories. Explaind an awful lot!. Love Pam.x

Gerry said...

Doc just barely pointed out to me there was a blue moon this month and why it was a blue moon. I didn't know. I looked at the moon last night thinking about missing the night of the full moon, but it was also very big and bright. So I thought oh it figures that Cathy would know about a blue moon. And I find that you knew all kinds of things about it. The Star Lady has not let me down!

Diane J Standiford said...

Interesting, I always wondered about the blue moon stuff. How fascinated we are by the moon, our moon, that little, vacant round rock in the sky.

DB said...

Cathy, the moon is made of blue cheese. Eeryone knows that.

You have some of the most interesting journal entries I know of. They are always a plesure to read. Thank you for them.

DB

Romeo Morningwood said...

That was most helpful, thank you.

The people in my part of the world are ideally suited for colonizing the Moon. We are accustomed to extreme thermal shifting..
not quite the 250 degree C range that the Moon experiences every freaking day but we're in the ball park..plus we all know how to do the moonwalk :)

I remember watching the landing on TV in 69..I kept hoping for Aliens to pop up over the ridge and eat Armstrong. Anyway it was sooo fake.

Everyone knows that by 69 the US Government was siphoning Space Program funds to pay for the Vietnam War. The CIA shot the whole thing on a soundstage in Houston.

Lori said...

I really enjoyed this article! We had a blue moon a couple years ago, and when I heard that we'd have one that month I thought, "Oh no! Now I have to do all those things I say I do "once in a blue moon!"

Maire said...

Hey Lady! We were up in the Catskills, I'm so blind, but it was an amazing sight! Happy New Year!!

Herrad said...

Hi Cathy,
Please come by my blog and pick up your award.
Love,
Herrad

Ana said...

Thank you for the explanations.
Of course I also remembered: "Blue Moon... you saw me standing alone..."
Have a great 2010!

natalie said...

the moon can be..well darn right' mysterious huhuh!:):)
I enjoyed this one Kathy!
hugggggggggggggggggggs
youare a so good friend to me
fun traveler!
:):) hehehhe
hugs,natalie