What is “once in a blue moon”?
A blue moon is actually a name given to an irregularly timed full moon. Most years have twelve full moons which occur approximately monthly, but each calendar year contains those twelve full lunar cycles plus about eleven days to spare. The extra days accumulate, so that every two or three years there is an extra full moon (this happens every 2.72 years). Different definitions place the extra moon at different times – the extra moon is called a “blue moon”. For the year 2008, these are the dates of the moons in the northern hemisphere. These dates use the actual solstices and not the artificial solstices that give each season an equal number of days. 1. January 8 – February 5 → Mid Winter moon 2. February 6 – March 6 → Late Winter moon 3. March 7 – April 4 → Early Spring moon 4. April 5 – May 4 → Mid Spring moon 5. May 5 – June 2 → Blue moon (full Blue Moon on May 19) 6. June 3 – July 2 → Late Spring moon 7. July 3 – July 31 → Early Summer moon 8. August 1 – August 29 → Mid Summer moon
