Rare blue moon will shine on New Year’s Eve

Published 12:52 pm Wednesday, December 30, 2009

I hope you didn’t have a blue Christmas, but you will have a blue New Year’s, whether you like it or not.

The moon over Everett is seeing to that, as we’ll have a blue moon. You’ve no doubt heard the saying about “once in a blue moon,” but to have a blue moon on New Year’s Eve is really rare. It’s the first time it’s happened since 1971, and only the fourth time since 1900.

Don’t be stepping outside clutching that bottle of bubbly expecting to see a blue hued moon, though, unless you’ve really been whooping it up. It’ll look like any other full moon you’ve seen before.

On very rare occasions the moon can actually sport a bluish tint due to atmospheric conditions caused by forest fires or volcanic eruptions. It’s even happened fairly recently. The moon was a little blue across many sections of eastern North America in September 1950, because of smoke from widespread forest fires in western Canada.

Also, after the massive eruption of Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines in June 1991, there were many sightings of a physically blue moon all around the world.

Fortunately these calamities don’t happen that often, and that lends itself to the creation of the phrase “once in a blue moon.”

The astronomical definition of a blue moon has nothing to do with the moon having a tinge of the color blue, nor does it mean that our lunar friend is sad. It all has to do with mathematical odds.

The synodic period of the moon, is 29.5 days. That’s the time it takes the moon to go through all its phases as it goes from evening crescent to full stage and back to morning crescent.

That means we have a full moon every 29.5 days, and since the average length of a calendar month is little over 30 days, it’s bound to happen that we’ll have two full moons in one month every now and then.

On average, we have a blue moon about every year an a half. To experience a blue moon in any given month is a rarity for sure, but to have one New Year’s Eve is even more special

No one really knows exactly when the term blue moon originated. In literature and print it first showed up around 1600 in England, during the time of William Shakespeare.

It wasn’t defined as it is today as the second full moon in a calendar month, but rather a visibly appearing blue moon, with a little imagination and possibly some added paranoia.

Many believed it was a bad omen of global calamities in the near future. A blue moon’s real or imagined appearance even interfered with a scheduling of church festivals and feast days.

A blue moon was also seen as a symbol of sadness and loneliness. Music of the past century reflected this in songs like “Blue Moon,” written in 1934 by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart and recorded by tons of artists.

Have a great and safe New Year’s celebration this year. I hope it’s clear enough for you to take some time to step outside in the blue moon moonlight. There won’t be another New Year’s blue moon until 2028.

MARS UPDATE: While you’re out blue mooning New Year’s Eve look for the planet Mars on the rise. It’s the brightest starlike object you can see in the eastern sky, and it has a definite red tinge to it. At midnight it’ll be about halfway from the overhead zenith near the moon to the eastern horizon.

Mars and the Earth are drawing closer to each other and Mars is growing in size and brightness in eastern heavens. Mars is now just under 68 million miles away. Mars and Earth will be at their closest Jan. 29, just under 62 million miles apart. I’ll have much more on our Martian encounter in the new year in the next several weeks.

Mike Lynch is an amateur astronomer and professional broadcast meteorologist for WCCO Radio in Minneapolis and is author of the book, “Washington Starwatch,” available at bookstores and at his Web site www.lynchandthestars.com.

The Everett Astronomical Society welcomes new members and puts on public star parties. Its Web site is www.everettastro.org.