Blue Moon

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Blue Moon and Black Moon
See also Adhik Maas

(1) "Blue Moon" phrase is normally used metaphorically to denote a rare or an impossible event in British expression, as "once in Blue Moon".

(2) Blue Moon name is also given to an extra Moon in a year. As every year has 12 months, or 12 Full Moons, when there are 13 Full Moons in a year, one of them is called "Blue Moon". On average, it happens every 2.72 years.

(3) According to the Farmer's Almanac, every season (3 months) should have 3 Full Moons, but when there are 4 Full Moons in a season, the 3rd one is called the "Blue Moon".

Calendar Blue Moon and Black Moon
So from 1946, people started calling a full moon a blue moon if it was the second of two full moons to occur in the same calendar month. This definition of blue moon was corrected in 1999 as the people noticed that the Maine Farmer's Almanac from 1829 to 1937 reported blue moons did not fit the meaning of the term "calendar blue moon".

"Calendar Blue Moons" occur infrequently, in years with thirteen full moons. There are also some years in which there is no full moon in February at all, since February is slightly shorter than the time from one full moon to the next. This condition, known as a Black Moon, gives additional "Blue Moons" in the preceding and following months (namely January and March). The last time this Black Moon occurred was in 1999, and its next occurrence will be in 2018, according to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time).

The previous calendar Blue Moon (based on UTC) was on June 30, 2007. The first full moon would have occurred on June 1, 2007. That was May 31, 2007 in the Western Hemisphere, making that full moon the second occurrence in May in the Western Hemisphere (see below); the next calendar blue moon will be December 31, 2009.

Blue Moons from 2007 to 2015
The following Blue Moons occur between 2007 and 2015. These dates use UTC as the time zone, months will vary with different time zones. If the Farmer's Almanac definition of blue moon is taken (meaning the third full moon in a season of four full moons) then blue moons occur :
     February 21, 2008
     November 21, 2010
     August 21, 2013

However, if the "Calendar Blue Moon" definition is taken (meaning the second full moon in any given month) then blue moons occur :
     June 30, 2007
     December 31, 2009
     August 31, 2012
     July 31, 2015

It is worth noting that the year 2018 (as well as 2037, 1961, 1942, 1999 etc.) will have two "calendar blue moons" (i.e. a second Full Moon in a given month) in January and March, but no Full Moon in February (i.e. a Black Moon).

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Created by Sushma Gupta on 3/15/06
Contact: sushmajee@yahoo.com
Updated on 06/09/11