[AZ-Observing] Re: Blue Moon is Wrong

  • From: Jeff Hopkins <phxjeff@xxxxxxxxxxx>
  • To: az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Thu, 31 May 2007 09:00:23 -0700

Hello Stan,

I find it amusing that the term "Blue Moon" causes so much concern.

I don't know who has the final say on what it means. I do know it is 
an indication of something rare. The idea that it's two full moons in 
a given month is certainly easy to understand. Other meanings are 
more complex and I fail to see the value of arguing over it. I'm 
happy with just thinking of it as two full moons in a given month.

As for the contrails I suspect it was just that the atmospheric 
condition were right to produce them. I have seen that happen over 
Phoenix too.

Jeff

At 08:32 -0700 05/31/2007, Stan Gorodenski wrote:
>I listened to NPR yesterday afternoon. They interviewed Kelly Beatty,
>executive editor of S&T, about the use of the term blue moon when a full
>moon occurs twice in a month. He said that term was in error and it was
>an error they started in an article in 1947. An amateur had done some
>research on the use of the term blue moon but was not that thorough. The
>term Blue Moon generally means a rare event, but it does not mean two
>full moons in a month.
>
>As an aside, gad were there a lot of jet trails over my place last
>night. Does anyone know if there was something going on or were the
>atmospheric conditions just right?
>Stan

-- 
Jeff Hopkins
HPO SOFT
Counting Photons
http://www.hposoft.com/Astro/astro.html
Hopkins Phoenix Observatory
7812 West Clayton Drive
Phoenix, Arizona 85033-2439 U.S.A.
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