Sep 3: Astronomers are Wrong
A Full Moon occurs every 29.5 days and this means that, every so often, a calendar month must have two Full Moons - and when a Full Moon occurs on the 1st or 2nd day of the Month, then it is very likely that another Full Moon will occur on 30th or 31st of the same month.
SO WHAT??!!??
There is nothing special about it, nothing unusual, nothing meaningful, nothing mystical and absolutely nothing for astronomers or anyone else to get excited about. Yet strangely, many astronomers hype it up, giving it the ridiculous and misleading name of "Blue" Moon - and I have absolutely no idea why they do it. It is a non-event which happens every two or three years. There is certainly no "Blue" involved, so astronomers ought not to be misleading the punters.
Exactly the same could be said about New Moons, First Quarter Moons and Last Quarter Moons. Some calendar years are quite likely to have thirteen of one or two of them, so one month during that year will have two of them.
Here is a list of "?Blue?" Lunar Events for 2012-2016:
1st & 31st January 2012 - two First Quarter Moons.
1st & 31st March 2012 - two First Quarter Moons.
2nd & 31st August 2012 - two Full Moons.
1st & 30th June 2013 - two Last Quarter Moons.
1st & 31st January 2014 - two New Moons.
1st & 31st March 2014 - two New Moons.
2nd & 31st October 2014 - two First Quarter Moons.
2nd & 31st July 2015 - two Full Moons.
1st & 30th April 2016 - two Last Quarter Moons.
1st & 31st October 2016 - two New Moons.
(These dates are compiled for Sydney, Australia and may vary at other longitudes.)
The significance of all the above "events" is absolutely zero. It is what happens when a 29.5 day cycle is imposed on a 28/30/31 day cycle. Yet special significance is given - even by astronomers - when a Full Moon is involved.
When astronomers keep harping on about a non-event, it does astronomy a disservice. Look it up on social networking sites and you'll see plenty of examples of innocent members of the public saying "Blue Moon tonight? Wow! I'll definitely go out and look at that!" or similar. What happens? They go out, see nothing unusual and wonder why astronomers are making a fuss over nothing (at best); or telling lies (at worst).
Some say it's a good way to get people outside looking at the sky but if it's done by deceptive marketing practices, I beg to differ. It's no wonder many people are cynical about scientists!
Astronomers are right to draw the public's attention to **real** astronomical events but a so-called "Blue" Moon is not one of them. It is "Non-Astronomy" of the first order and only causes confusion by using a tricky name.
If you want to see a blue moon, go outside when the moon is visible during the daytime (any month, when it is waning):
:)
