#Picture of lunar eclipse diagram full#

Will it look like a solar eclipse as seen from Earth?.What would you see if you were standing on the Moon? A lunar eclipse is when the Moon moves into the Earth' shadow.Does the time of the eclipse depend on where on Earth I am?.Why don't we have a lunar eclipse every month?.

#Picture of lunar eclipse diagram full#

Why does a lunar eclipse only happen during full moon?.

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Also thank various websites (listed) for imagery. Patricia Reiff, the Rice Space Institute. In very rare circumstances, the Moon can appear blue, but in this case it is a colour added to the Moon by viewing it through a haze of dust particles in our atmosphere, perhaps from a recent volcanic eruption.Courtesy Prof. As lunar eclipses occur only during full moons, and blue moons are one type of full moon, very rarely a blue moon will be red! During a lunar eclipse, the Moon can turn blood red, lit only by the light that is bent around the Earth by its atmosphere onto the face of the Moon. As this Moon is also a supermoon, it will be a Super Blue Moon.īlue moons aren’t blue! Blue moons remain the same colour as any other full moon except in two rare cases. The next blue moon takes place on 31 August 2023. This may be a reference to the betrayal of the usual idea of having one full moon in each month or perhaps the “betrayal” by the Moon of worshippers attempting to determine the position and duration of Lent in the calendar year.

It may be a mispronounciation of the disused word “belewe” which means ‘to betray’. Quite where the term blue moon came from is unclear. Interestingly though, by both definitions not everywhere in the world experienced the same number or position of blue moons in a year due to different parts of the globe having different timezones but the Moon having only one moment in time when it is full. As February 2018 had no full moon in it, both January and March ended up with two full moons, so by this definition both months contained blue moons. This definition describes the blue moon as the second full Moon in any calendar month with two full moons. The second (mistaken) definition of a blue moonĪnother definition of the blue moon, perhaps the more commonly used due to its simplicity, is actually a mistake, made in the 1940s and perpetuated by radio shows and the Trivial Pursuit board game through the 1980s. the winter season begins at the winter solstice and ends at the spring equinox, the spring season begins at the spring equinox and ends at the summer solstice and so on). This is the most complicated definition for people using the standard calendar, as the astronomical seasons begin and end at the equinoxes and solstices (e.g. Traditionally the definition of a blue moon is the third full Moon in an astronomical season containing four full moons. Which of the 13 full moons is the blue moon is up for debate. Moon: Big Mosaic by Andrea Vanoni, Astronomy Photographer of the Year 2022 Traditional definition of a blue moon This additional full moon does not fit with the normal naming scheme and so is instead referred to as a ‘blue moon’. This falls some way short of the 365/366 days in a calendar year: therefore, roughly every two and a half years a 13th full moon is seen. However, the phases of the Moon actually take 29.5 days to complete, meaning 354 days total for 12 full cycles. With the cycle of the phases of the Moon lasting approximately one month, and there being 12 months in a year, we typically have 12 full moons each year. See images of the Moon at the Astronomy Photographer of the Year exhibition What is a blue moon?Ĭultures around the world, including the Native Americans, have given names to each of the full Moons, with each typically happening in its own month.įor example the 'Wolf Moon' is usually the full Moon occurring within January. In 2018 unusually, we had two blue moons in one year and only two months apart – and one was a lunar eclipse! The next time we will get two blue moons in a year will be 2037. Normally blue moons come only about every two or three years. Instead, it is all to do with the timing of full moons during the year. Find out more about them below. Think something happening 'once in a blue moon' is rare? Actually blue moons are fairly common, at least in astronomical terms.įirst things first: a blue moon has nothing to do with the colour of the Moon. What is a blue moon and how often does it occur?