2 ms·

What 'Once in a blue moon' literally means

6 points by pavel 17y ago

mbubb 17y ago
Pretty cool. Question though - the definition of a blue moon is for there to be 4 full moons in a season. (Learned on HN): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1008761 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1008761 which cites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon If that is the case then this is not a blue moon as the first 3 happened in the fall and the 4th is after the solstice. Right?
- btilly 17y ago
  If you had read the Wikipedia article for yourself and you'll find multiple definitions of a blue moon. To save you the effort, The Farmer's Almanac used the definition you just cited, but "2 full moons in a month* is the more commonly used definition.
  - mbubb 17y ago
    Yeah you are right. Or simply gone to nasa.gov: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29dec_bluemoon.htm http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29dec_bluemoon.htm "The modern definition sprang up in the 1940s. In those days, the Farmer's Almanac of Maine offered a definition of Blue Moon so convoluted that even professional astronomers struggled to understand it. It involved factors such as the ecclesiastical dates of Easter and Lent, and the timing of seasons according to the dynamical mean sun. Aiming to explain blue moons to the layman, Sky & Telescope published an article in 1946 entitled "Once in a Blue Moon." The author James Hugh Pruett cited the 1937 Maine almanac and opined that the "second [full moon] in a month, so I interpret it, is called Blue Moon."
- EricBurnett 17y ago
  I can't comment on what definition of blue moon they use, but Google calculator says that ~0.37 occur every year: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1+year+*+once+in+a+blue+moon http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1+year+*+once+in+a+...
lmkg 17y ago
This one's pretty cool since it's happening on the last day of the year and all. Although, by definition, they can only happen in the last few days of the month, so it's a little less special than I first thought. I also remember a few years back, there were two blue moons only two months apart, something that only happens every couple decades. There was a full moon in early January, a blue moon on Jan 31st, then the tiny month of February managed to fit in between full moons, so the next full moon happened on March 1st, with a blue moon later that month.
roundsquare 17y ago
* hey?), some believe that a full moon -- not to mention a blue one -- can cause strong emotions to flare. Some evidence shows that arrests for petty crime and public drunkenness increase 5% during a full moon* Anyone know why? Any ideas on the causal effect? Pure chance?

6 points by pavel 17y ago

mbubb 17y ago

Pretty cool. Question though - the definition of a blue moon is for there to be 4 full moons in a season. (Learned on HN): http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1008761 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1008761 which cites: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon If that is the case then this is not a blue moon as the first 3 happened in the fall and the 4th is after the solstice. Right?

btilly 17y ago
If you had read the Wikipedia article for yourself and you'll find multiple definitions of a blue moon. To save you the effort, The Farmer's Almanac used the definition you just cited, but "2 full moons in a month* is the more commonly used definition.
- mbubb 17y ago
  Yeah you are right. Or simply gone to nasa.gov: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29dec_bluemoon.htm http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29dec_bluemoon.htm "The modern definition sprang up in the 1940s. In those days, the Farmer's Almanac of Maine offered a definition of Blue Moon so convoluted that even professional astronomers struggled to understand it. It involved factors such as the ecclesiastical dates of Easter and Lent, and the timing of seasons according to the dynamical mean sun. Aiming to explain blue moons to the layman, Sky & Telescope published an article in 1946 entitled "Once in a Blue Moon." The author James Hugh Pruett cited the 1937 Maine almanac and opined that the "second [full moon] in a month, so I interpret it, is called Blue Moon."
EricBurnett 17y ago
I can't comment on what definition of blue moon they use, but Google calculator says that ~0.37 occur every year: http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1+year+*+once+in+a+blue+moon http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=1+year+*+once+in+a+...

lmkg 17y ago

This one's pretty cool since it's happening on the last day of the year and all. Although, by definition, they can only happen in the last few days of the month, so it's a little less special than I first thought. I also remember a few years back, there were two blue moons only two months apart, something that only happens every couple decades. There was a full moon in early January, a blue moon on Jan 31st, then the tiny month of February managed to fit in between full moons, so the next full moon happened on March 1st, with a blue moon later that month.

roundsquare 17y ago

* hey?), some believe that a full moon -- not to mention a blue one -- can cause strong emotions to flare. Some evidence shows that arrests for petty crime and public drunkenness increase 5% during a full moon* Anyone know why? Any ideas on the causal effect? Pure chance?