What is a Blue Moon and when is the next one?
YOU may have heard the phrase "once in a blue moon", well here is where it comes from.
The phenomenon known as a "blue moon" occurs when there is a second full moon in the same calendar month.
What is a Blue Moon?
A full moon occurs when the earth comes directly between the sun and the moon.
It happens every 29 and a half days, and each month's full moon has a special name.
This is because Native American tribes kept track of the months of the year by the lunar calendar.
A Blue Moon is the name of any month's second full moon - which is an event that only occurs once every three years.
It led to people coining the phrase "once in a blue moon", meaning something that doesn't happen very often.
When is the next Blue Moon?
The next Blue Moon comes on August 31, 2023, followed by May 31, 2026 and December 31, 2028.
Blue Moons aren't actually blue - the confusion is because the term originates in "blewe", the old English word for "betrayer".
Normally, a year would have 12 moons, but when a moon appears for the 13th time - it was perceived to have "betrayed" the lunar cycle.
READ MORE IN NEWS
However, a moon can appear blue if the right kind of dust is kicked up into the atmosphere, and filtering out excessive red light.
How often is a Blue Moon?
A Blue Moon does not happen more than once a year.
Generally, Blue Moons come around once every two or three years.
What does a Blue Moon mean?
Folklore often associates a Blue Moon with the growth of knowledge and wisdom within the phases of a woman's life.
The moon generally being connected with the feminine.
Although generally there is no particular association with a Blue Moon although spiritualists and pagans see it as a particularly magical time.