FreeLists / az-observing / [AZ-Observing] Re: The Real Blue Moon

[Brent A Archinal <barchinal@xxxxxxxx>]

Just a few miscellaneous comments on the Blue Moon issue.
At his talk at the Texas Star Party last month, Kelly Beaty discussed some 
of the all time blunders by Sky & Telescope magazine and of course 
described this one where the meaning of Blue Moon was misinterpreted.

I would add that I believe the 2 full Moons in a month definition is now 
so well known is because it was so heavily publicized in the mid 1980's by 
the Gail Cleere, the public affairs officer of the U. S. Naval 
Observatory, who sent out  - in this pre internet era - a widely 
distributed and referenced "night sky" style newsletter "News from the 
Naval Observatory".  She covered this many times, and every time she did 
there was a big flurry of new reports about it.  At one point I told her 
the definition just didn't sound right to me, but she pointed it out in 
some obscure old 1950's or '60's book (the name of which I've 
unfortunately forgotten) to justify it.  Obviously that book had gotten 
the information wrong from S&T.

I would agree with what others have said or implied here, that this 
definition is now hopelessly engrained in our culture, whether it's wrong 
or even makes sense or not.  We're hearing about it now and will be 
hearing about forever because it gives the TV weather folks something to 
talk about.  Personally, I don't think something that's happens every 
couple of years or so and is visible by everyone on Earth (that isn't 
clouded out) is a rare event.

I have never seen a true blue (looking) Moon myself.  But I have heard 
from several people who have seen them, particularly during forest fires. 
During the Fall of 1950 there were apparently a number of massive forest 
fires going on in the eastern U.S.  Mike Mikesell, a long time USNO 
employee, told me (in the late 1980's) that for several nights the 
(harvest?) Moon stayed an obvious blue color due to the smoke covering 
Washington, D.C. at the time.  Incidentally, and perhaps more of interest 
to us on this list, he also pointed out that when he tried to observe the 
Moon or bright stars through the smoke he found the seeing was the best 
he'd ever seen, before or since.  Images in the 12-inch Clark refractor 
were rock-steady, at magnifications up to 2000x.  Obviously he must have 
been looking through a stable temperature inversion caused by the smoke. I 
wonder if others have ever noticed that through the smoke of forest fires 
out here.

- Brent


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