Once in a blue moon

I didn’t take any photos of the full moon last night. I’ve learned it’s a difficult thing to shoot without a professional camera! The full moon last night seemed fitting for Halloween night.  It helped illuminate the way for trick-or-treaters and certainly added mood to the evening. No matter what time of the year, a full moon on a clear night can be a gorgeous sight to behold. Last night was no exception. Along with the full moon, two planets were clearly visible as well as a sprinkling of stars. Awesome (a word often overused and misunderstood) is truly a good word to use for God’s creation.

Did you know last night’s full moon was a blue moon? I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “once in a blue moon.” In the Cleveland area we often apply it to our sports teams. When I was young, I thought a blue moon meant the moon took on a blue cast. After all, I’ve seen moons that are yellow or almost golden in color. I’ve even see a blood red moon. So why not blue?

Well . . . just in case you didn’t know, it doesn’t look blue at all. It’s a term used for the second full moon within the same month. It doesn’t happen often, so that’s why we say rare events occur “once in a blue moon.” According to NASA a full moon on Halloween only happens approximately every 19 years. And yes, the last one was in 2001 (but only visible in Central and Pacific time zones.) The 2020 Halloween blue moon was the first one visible in all time zones since 1944, according to the Farmer’s Almanac.

Apparently any full moon that falls on Halloween is a blue moon due to the month having 31 days. The moon cycle takes 29.5 days. Therefore, if we have a full moon on the 31st, we must have had a full moon earlier in the month as well.

Many terms describing the moon are even odder than a blue moon. In January 2019 a super blood wolf moon occurred and a super blue blood moon happened in 2018. The term “super” simply means the moon appears larger than normal because the moon’s orbit is close to earth. A blood moon occurs during a lunar eclipse when the moon does take on a reddish hue. A wolf moon happens during January. It’s the first full moon of the year.  According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, the term wolf moon may have Native American and colonial settler origins since they often heard wolves howling in hunger during winter months. Others believe it has Anglo-Saxon origins.

Full moons have many names based on occurring during a particular month.

January:  Wolf Moon, Old Moon, Ice Moon and Moon After Yule

February: Snow Moon, Storm Moon and Hunger Moon

March: Worm Moon, Chaste Moon, Death Moon, Crust Moon and Sap Moon

April:  Pink Moon, Sprouting Grass Moon, Fish Moon, Hare Moon, Egg Moon and Paschal Moon (used to calculate the date for Easter)

May:  Flower Moon, Corn Planting Moon, Milk Moon, and Hare Moon

June:  Strawberry Moon, Hot Moon, Mead Moon, and Rose Moon

July:  Buck Moon, Thunder Moon, Hay Moon, and Wort Moon

August:  Sturgeon Moon, Green Corn Moon, Barley Moon, Fruit Moon, and Grain Moon

September:  Corn Moon, Harvest Moon, Barley Moon

October:  Hunter’s Moon, Dying Grass Moon

November:  Beaver Moon,  Frosty Moon, Oak Moon, and Mourning Moon (the last full moon before winter solstice)

December:  Cold Moon, Moon Before Yule

That’s probably way more information on full moons than you ever wanted, but I hope it was interesting. Call full moons what you please, but look how intelligent you’ll look next time a conversation about them comes up!

I hope you take the time to truly appreciate those nights when there’s a clear view of a full moon. No matter how old you are, may the wonder of our universe be fresh and exciting.