Once In A Blue Moon

FTLComm - Tisdale - February 1, 1999

No doubt you have heard the expression and of course various news media outlets have give an explanation of the occurance of two full moons in one month make the second one a "Blue Moon". Astronomers are not amused as they have tended to refer historically and in recent times to the very rare situation when the moon is actually "Blue" caused by particles suspended in the upper atmospher as the result of massive forest fires or a volcanic eruption. This happens so infreqently world wide that it is a likely source for the phrase. However, in 1938 the Farmer Almanac identified the occurance of the second full moon in a single month with the colour blue and so many claim that the term "Blue Moon" refers to this odd occurance. In the picture above I am pushing the envelop. Last night's moon was extra ordinary and really lit up the country side so much so that the high level cloud and the bright moon obscured the stars for most of the night. This picture is taken of our back yard at about 5:48AM and it really is difficult to get a digital camera to register an image with such low light conditions. However, there is a modest image here and I thought it would be fun to share it with you.