BLUE MOON ECLIPSE: On Dec. 31st, the Blue Moon will dip into Earth's
shadow for a partial lunar eclipse. The event is visible from Europe,
Africa and Asia: map. At maximum eclipse, around 19:24 Universal Time,
approximately 8% of the Moon will be darkly shadowed. Click on the
image to launch an animated preview:

Blue Moons are rare (once every ~2.5 years). Blue Moons on New Year's
Eve are rarer still (once every ~19 years). How rare is a lunar
eclipse of a Blue Moon on New Year's Eve?

http://www.spaceweather.com/

On 2009-12-30, Bonos Ego wrote:
BLUE MOON ECLIPSE: On Dec. 31st, the Blue Moon will dip into Earth's
shadow for a partial lunar eclipse. The event is visible from Europe,
Africa and Asia: map. At maximum eclipse, around 19:24 Universal Time,
approximately 8% of the Moon will be darkly shadowed. Click on the
image to launch an animated preview:

Blue Moons are rare (once every ~2.5 years). Blue Moons on New Year's
Eve are rarer still (once every ~19 years). How rare is a lunar
eclipse of a Blue Moon on New Year's Eve?

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Is this the "2nd Full Moon in a month" definition? If so, there's an
argument in favour of it being wrong:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3304131.html

According to the older meaning, a Blue Moon is the 3rd Full Moon in a season
that has 4.

The more recent definition is a wee bit easier to get your head around, mind
:-)

Jim
--
http://www.ursaMinorBeta.co.uk http://twitter.com/GreyAreaUK

"Get over here. Now. Might be advisable to wear brown trousers
and a shirt the colour of blood." Malcolm Tucker, "The Thick of It"

I understand http://www.spaceweather.com/ to be referring to it as a
Blue Moon because of its colour caused by the Partial Eclipse, rather
than the saying 'Once in a Blue Moon', which has different meanings as
you mention above.

"Jim" wrote in message
...
On 2009-12-30, Bonos Ego wrote:
BLUE MOON ECLIPSE: On Dec. 31st, the Blue Moon will dip into Earth's
shadow for a partial lunar eclipse. The event is visible from Europe,
Africa and Asia: map. At maximum eclipse, around 19:24 Universal Time,
approximately 8% of the Moon will be darkly shadowed. Click on the
image to launch an animated preview:

Blue Moons are rare (once every ~2.5 years). Blue Moons on New Year's
Eve are rarer still (once every ~19 years). How rare is a lunar
eclipse of a Blue Moon on New Year's Eve?

http://www.spaceweather.com/

Is this the "2nd Full Moon in a month" definition? If so, there's an
argument in favour of it being wrong:

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3304131.html

According to the older meaning, a Blue Moon is the 3rd Full Moon in a
season
that has 4.

The more recent definition is a wee bit easier to get your head around,
mind
:-)

Jim
--
http://www.ursaMinorBeta.co.uk http://twitter.com/GreyAreaUK

"Get over here. Now. Might be advisable to wear brown trousers
and a shirt the colour of blood." Malcolm Tucker, "The Thick of It"

The definition of a blue moon is of US origin, rather like Fathers Day. I
suppose no harm can come from the concept if it makes people think a bit
about the moon's phases and the intervals between them.

I have one quibble about the supposed rarity of a full moon on 31st
December - on average a full moon will occur on any specific date
approximately once every 29.5 years, and 31st December is no exception. Of
course, a full moon on 31st December will always be preceded by a full moon
on 1st or 2nd December.

Weather prospects for viewing the eclipse are not too promising, at least in
the south of the country.

Roger

On 2009-12-30, Bonos Ego wrote:
I understand http://www.spaceweather.com/ to be referring to it as a
Blue Moon because of its colour caused by the Partial Eclipse, rather
than the saying 'Once in a Blue Moon', which has different meanings as
you mention above.

Reading the article (both the SpaceWeather one and the linked NASA article)
neither say that the Moon's *colour* will be blue. In fact the NASA article
goes to some lengths to point out that it won't:

-----
"I remember the last time this happened," says professor Philip Hiscock of
the Dept. of Folklore at the Memorial University of Newfoundland. "December
1990 ended with a Blue Moon, and many New Year's Eve parties were themed by
the event. It was a lot of fun."

Don't expect the Moon to actually turn blue, though. "The 'Blue Moon' is a
creature of folklore," he explains. "It's the second full Moon in a calendar
month."
-----

although they then go on to explain that this definition is fairly new.

Thanks for the pointer though - I didn't know about the eclipse.

Jim
--
http://www.ursaMinorBeta.co.uk http://twitter.com/GreyAreaUK

"Get over here. Now. Might be advisable to wear brown trousers
and a shirt the colour of blood." Malcolm Tucker, "The Thick of It"

On Wed, 30 Dec 2009, Bonos Ego wrote
I understand http://www.spaceweather.com/ to be referring to it as a
Blue Moon because of its colour caused by the Partial Eclipse, rather
than the saying 'Once in a Blue Moon', which has different meanings as
you mention above.

Except that the colour of the eclipsed moon is more often a rather lurid
red, isn't it? I always think of Wozzeck saying der Mond ist blutig.
But that's just me. YMMV.....

--
Kate B

PS 'elvira' is spamtrapped - please reply to 'elviraspam' at cockaigne dot org dot uk if you
want to reply personally

On 2009-12-30, Kate Brown wrote:
On Wed, 30 Dec 2009, Bonos Ego wrote
I understand http://www.spaceweather.com/ to be referring to it as a
Blue Moon because of its colour caused by the Partial Eclipse, rather
than the saying 'Once in a Blue Moon', which has different meanings as
you mention above.

Except that the colour of the eclipsed moon is more often a rather lurid
red, isn't it? I always think of Wozzeck saying der Mond ist blutig.
But that's just me. YMMV.....

A Moon that's in a total eclipse is often very red, yes. Partials don't
change colour though. Well, not much anyway.

Jim
--
http://www.ursaMinorBeta.co.uk http://twitter.com/GreyAreaUK

"Get over here. Now. Might be advisable to wear brown trousers
and a shirt the colour of blood." Malcolm Tucker, "The Thick of It"

Skies are now clearing in South Devon, and the Partial Eclipse of the
Moon is now clearly visible, with the bottom right hand corner of the
moon turning a Blueish-grey.

Maximum Eclipse is 19:24 UTC (GMT)