Once in a Blue Moon

It always happened with me so far that whenever I came closer to the Nature, 1st one to be in touch with is Moon. This time as well, when I thought to start a blog, was thinking to go back in Jan’09 and share the experience of Birds I met 1st time but this celestial event changed my mind and posting here the Blue Moon Experience which happened on 31st December, 2009 and Shots which I tried 1st time.

Firstly, would like to share something related to Blue Moon Day which I read in the News Paper…

On New Year's eve, look skywards for that ‘once-in-a-Blue-Moon’ feeling. An eclipse is predicted and may block the view for many around the world but astronomers say India will have this rare sighting.

There are 12 full moons most years but every two or three years there’s an extra full moon which is called a ‘Blue Moon’. We’ve already had a full moon on December 2 and the next one is on New Year’s Eve. But what makes this Blue Moon special is the juxtaposition of a lunar eclipse. This is arguably the perfect end to the International Year of Astronomy, as designated by the United Nations to commemorate 400 years of Galileo’s theory about the solar system.
During the partial lunar eclipse from 12.22 am to 1.22 am, only 7% of the moon’s disc will be covered by the earth’s shadow and it will be visible from Asia, Africa, Australia and Europe.

‘‘A Blue Moon is a full moon that is not timed to the regular monthly pattern. Most years have 12 full moons which occur approximately monthly. But in addition to these full lunar cycles, each calendar year contains an excess of around 11 days. The extra days accumulate, so every two or three years, there is an additional full moon,’’ explained Kolkata’s Birla Planetarium director Debiprosad Duari.

The most literal meaning of Blue Moon is when a casual observer regards it as unusually bluish. This effect can be triggered by smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere, as happened after forest fires in Sweden and Canada in 1950. In 1883, the Krakatoa volcanic eruption in Java left the moon looking blue for nearly two years.