Shawn Tan
Just when you thought the year can’t get any spookier, a full blue moon will be visible in the night sky on Halloween in 2020. This relatively rare occurrence happens once every two and a half years on average, according to NASA’s National Space Science Data Center.
This is also the first time a Halloween full moon has appeared for all time zones since 1944. The last time a Halloween full moon appeared was for the Central and Pacific time zones in 2001.
So what is a blue moon?
Contrary to popular belief, a blue moon is in fact not blue. It is simply a regular full moon which occurs when two full moons appear in a single month. This means that the moon on October 31, Saturday, won’t be blue at all.
This current understanding is believed to be a 1946 misinterpretation of the original definition, which was used as a source for a nationally syndicated radio programme in the United States in 1980.
How to calculate the next blue moon?
There are roughly 29.5 days between full moons. This makes it unusual for two full moons to fit into a 30- or 31-day month. This also means that February will never have a Blue Moon.
Also read: The Largest Supermoon To Show On 8 April, Wednesday (GMT+8)
Where did the blue moon get its name?
It is widely agreed that blue moon got its contemporary name from the Farmer’s Almanac. The only reason why a moon may appear to be blue is due to smoke and dust particles in the atmosphere, which may make the moon take on a bluish hue.
What are the names of the upcoming full moons in 2020?
Did you know that full moons have names? Based on the Farmer’s Almanac, the rest of the full moons expected for 2020 are named the following:
21 Sep – Corn moon
15 Oct – Harvest moon
31 Oct – Blue moon
30 Nov – Beaver moon
29 Dec – Cold moon
The almanac followed certain rules for what to call each moon. So, when a particular season had four moons, the third was dubbed a Blue Moon, so that the other full moons could occur at the proper times relative to the solstices and equinoxes.
In other words, the “Blue Moon” name was given to the “extra” moon so as not to disrupt the usual cycle that farmers had gotten used to, as full moons were named based on the harvests and time of the year. So look forward to the blue moon this Halloween 2020!
