Full Moon & Blue MoonLast night after the grandchildren were in bed, my daughter-in–law told me that there was contest on a radio show for the best picture of the full moon. As it is not often I have the chance to view a full moon from the uncluttered skies of northern Wisconsin, I decided to take a look and a picture or two. To my surprise there appeared in the digital picture a blue moon, which could not be seen by the naked eye, next to the regular moon. I had always thought that ‘blue moon’ was a description of some type of mood or a kind of ice cream. Now I know it to be an optical sight only available to a digital camera. Is the ‘blue moon’ only in the country or can you see it in a digital picture of the moon in the city?
Returning to my son’s home this morning after driving my
Sun in the Skygranddaughter to pre-school I noticed in the bright blue sky a cloudy outline of the moon. This truly a bright blue moon. However, when I got back and went outside with my digital camera to take a shot of it, it was gone. So I decided to take a digital picture of the bright sun. (This was before my son told me that doing this was not good for my camera). Fascinating — the bright blue sky around the sun came out dark in the digital picture. Again, a digital illusion not seen by the naked eye.
I now know that if you look at life, like at the moon, with the naked eye you will not see any ‘blue moon’. If you look at the sun (with protection) you will not see the darkness surrounding the sun. So if you want a happy life, open your eyes, take off the lenses and see life as it really is, bright with no ‘blue moons.’
Comments
TeganDowling — 25 January 2008, 09:53
From en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon
“The term blue moon has at least four related meanings.
- One is a common metaphorical phrase for a rare event. Full moons are given names in folklore, and two definitions of blue moon are a name for a rare full moon that does not have a folk name.
- One modern blue moon definition is a result of a misinterpretation of the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, where a second full moon occurs in a calendar month.
- The older definition of blue moon is for an extra full moon that occurs in a quarter of the year, which would normally have three full moons but sometimes has four. Oddly, it is the third full moon in a season that has four which is counted as the “extra” other full moon and named blue moon. According to certain folklore, it is said that when there is a blue moon, the moon has a face and talks to the items in its moonlight.”
- “The most obvious meaning of blue moon is when the moon (not necessarily a full moon) appears to a casual observer to be unusually bluish, which is a rare event. The effect can be caused by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as has happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950 and, notably, after the eruption of Krakatoa in 1883, which caused the moon to appear blue for nearly two years.”
So, Bob, it looks like you’ve discovered a 5th meaning for the term! (nice picture, by the way)
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