Blue moon seen around the globe

Well, it does only happen once in a blue moon: Stunning pictures of rare astronomical event which drew crowds around the world

Although the moon wasn’t actually colored blue, the rare event will not happen again until July 2015. Friday’s blue moon also coincided with a private service for Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon, who died last Saturday at age 82.

'Once in a blue moon' is not just a phrase we use for those occasional treats or chores.

It is also a rare statistical quirk which occurs when a full moon occurs twice in a calendar month.

And last night was the night when for the first time in two years we were treated to our second full moon in August, thanks to the moon last reaching its peak on August 2.

Tribute: The blue moon pictured over Cincinnati, where a memorial service was held on Friday for Neil Armstrong

Rare: The moon, pictured here over the Washington Monument, occurs every two and a half years

The moon was at its fullest - reflecting the maximum sunlight from our vantage point on Earth - yesterday at 2.59pm.

The reason why we call it a 'blue moon' is lost to history, although the Farmers' Almanac would always note an occurrence during the 18th century.

With a full moon occurring once every 29 days, and a month topping out with a maximum of 31 days, the combination is a rare one - occurring around once every two-and-a-half years.

Sadly, we cannot expect the moon to take on a different hue. Barring volcanic eruption, it will remain as white as ever, unless clouds obscure the view.

If a volcano does erupt, then all bets are off, as ash in the sky has been known to play visual tricks with the sun and the moon.

Crowd: People gather to watch the moon at the Eagle Rock Reservation in New Jersey on Tuesday night

Iconic: The blue moon, legendary in both folklore and pop culture, shown behind a statue of an eagle at the New Jersey reservation

When Krakatoa erupted in Indonesia in 1883, where ash soared right into the upper echelons of the atmosphere, blue moons were reported around the world, for up to two years.

Krakatoa's ash is the reason. Some of the ash-clouds were filled with particles about 1 micron (one millionth of a meter) wide - the right size to strongly scatter red light, while allowing other colors to pass.

White moonbeams shining through the clouds emerged blue, and sometimes green.

Blue moons persisted for years after the eruption. People also saw lavender suns and, for the first time, noctilucent clouds.

Spectacular: Tourists flocked to Athens' Roman Agora to witness the second full moon to occur in August

Backdrop: A plane lands at Santos Dumont airport as the moon hangs low in the sky over Rio de Janeiro

The ash caused 'such vivid red sunsets that fire engines were called out in New York, Poughkeepsie, and New Haven to quench the apparent conflagration,' according to volcanologist Scott Rowland at the University of Hawaii.

Other less potent volcanos have turned the moon blue, too. People saw blue moons in 1983, for instance, after the eruption of the El Chichon volcano in Mexico. And there are reports of blue moons caused by Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991.

According to Nasa, the key to a blue moon is having in the air lots of particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micron) - and no other sizes present. This is rare, but volcanoes sometimes spit out such clouds, as do forest fires.

Once in a blue moon: The full moon pictured yesterday over the M62 motorway, West Yorkshire

Physics professor Sue Ann Bowling of the University of Alaska said: 'On September 23, 1950, several muskeg fires that had been quietly smoldering for several years in Alberta suddenly blew up into major - and very smoky - fires.'

'Winds carried the smoke eastward and southward with unusual speed, and the conditions of the fire produced large quantities of oily droplets of just the right size (about 1 micron in diameter) to scatter red and yellow light.

'Wherever the smoke cleared enough so that the sun was visible, it was lavender or blue.

'Ontario and much of the east coast of the U.S. were affected by the following day, but the smoke kept going. Two days later, observers in England reported an indigo sun in smoke-dimmed skies, followed by an equally blue moon that evening.'

Source: DailyMail

A blue moon rises above the ancient Acropolis hill in Athens. Although the moon is not actually colored blue, the rare event occurs when there’s a second full moon in one calendar month. Louisa Gouliamaki / AFP/Getty Images

A village boy rides his bicycle on sand as a blue moon shines on the outskirts of the eastern Indian city of Bhubaneswar. A blue moon only happens about once every 2.7 years. Biswaranjan Rout / AP

The blue moon rises over Rio de Janeiro. This is the second time in August that a full moon is seen. The first was on Aug. 1 to 2. Vanderlel Almeida / AFP/Getty Images

A rare second full moon of the month, known as a "blue moon," is seen over Cincinnati, Ohio. The family of Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong held a memorial service celebrating his life earlier in the day in Cincinnati. Armstrong, the first man to walk on the moon during the 1969 Apollo 11 mission, died August 25, 2012. He was 82. NASA / Reuters

An American flag flies at half-staff in honor of the passing of Neil Armstrong, in front of the rising "blue moon" at a baseball park in Richmond, Va. Dean Hoffmeyer / AP

A blue moon is seen in the sky of the Jordanian capital of Amman. Muhammad Hamed / Reuters

A blue moon is seen in the sky of the Jordanian capital of Amman. The phenomenon happens about every 2.7 years. Muhammad Hamed / Reuters

A blue moon is seen behind tree branches in Skopje, the capital of Macedonia. Robert Atanasovski / AFP/Getty Images

A blue moon is seen from the Atahualpa Stadium in Quito, the capital of Ecuador. Stringer / Reuters

Source: The Washington Post



The web-based Slooh Space Camera, which showcases live views from various telescopes around the world, is hosting a special broadcast of the blue moon on Friday 31st,2012, beginning at 6 p.m. EDT (22hours GMT). You can see Blue Moon through this website. The Slooh Space Camera's website here: http://events.slooh.com/

Despite its colorful name, there's nothing particularly blue about a blue moon. It simply means the second full moon of the month, so don't expect to see a different hue that night. This happens every two and a half years, on average.

The first full moon of this month occurred on Aug. 1. Typically, blue moons occur every 2.7 years, and while they do not differ much from other full moons, the lunar views on Friday should serve as a fitting tribute to the legacy of Armstrong and the Apollo program. this rare occurrence isn't scheduled to re-occur until 2015.

Slooh's program will feature live shots of the moon from an observatory in . Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, and views of the sun from the Prescott Observatory in Arizona. The dual feeds will treat viewers to simultaneous real-time observations of the moon and sun in true color.

The solar calendar year is about 11 days longer than the lunar year. The extra days accumulate and there is an extra full moon every two to three years. Last few blue moons were in 1996, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2007, 2010. The next blue moon will be in July 2015.

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