Folklore or Science… Is a Blue Moon Really Blue?
You might have overheard your local television meteorologist say something about a blue moon. Of course, my boys were hoping to see a real blue moon, but instead, they were treated to the second full moon of the month. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month… and as you might expect, NASA has more to say about it…
According to modern folklore, a Blue Moon is the second full moon in a calendar month. Usually months have only one full moon, but occasionally a second one sneaks in. Full moons are separated by 29 days, while most months are 30 or 31 days long; so it is possible to fit two full moons in a single month. This happens every two and a half years, on average.
But you can imagine the disappointment in their voices as my three boys ran outside to see… a normal full moon. “Dad, it’s not blue… that stinks!”
A little more digging on the NASA site and we discovered that there was a time when people on Earth saw a real blue moon.
