Tonight’s “alternative” Blue Moon

By Jason Samenow, Published: August 20 at 12:47 pmE-mail the writer

The moon, not quite full, on August 18 (Kevin Wolf via Flickr)

Usually, when we talk about a Blue Moon, we’re referring to the relatively rare occurrence of a second full moon in a single month.

But just like months sometimes squeeze in an extra full moon, so do seasons.  Instead of having just three full moons, seasons – from time to time – tack on a fourth.

So there’s an alternative definition of Blue Moon: the third full moon in a four moon season.  As tonight’s full moon is the third of four this summer, it’s a Blue Moon by this standard.

“[T]his definition actually preceded the more modern definition of a Blue Moon as being the second of two full moons to occur in one calendar month,” writes Earth Sky.

A Blue Moon is equally rare whichever definition you prefer.

“[I]t’s inevitable that 7 out of 19 years will feature two full moons in one calendar month,” Earth Sky notes. “And it’s also inevitable that 7 out of 19 years will have four full moons in one season.”

“Once in a Blue Moon,” as the saying goes.

Related: Blue moon: one small mistake, giant folklore for the sky | Blue moon and Sturgeon moon in August 2012

Of course, under either definition, the term “Blue Moon” is a misnomer, as the moon is not actually the color blue.

In Washington, tonight’s Blue Moon rises at 7:27 p.m. in the eastern sky and sets Wednesday morning at 7:05 a.m.  Thus, from dusk to dawn, the Blue Moon will glow.  It is officially 100 percent full at 9:45 p.m.

Tonight’s full moon is also known as the Sturgeon Moon. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac, fishing tribes near the Great Lakes are credited with naming this moon – identifying the season when ample sturgeon were caught.

Eilene Galloway, The Woman Who Helped Create NASA

The Woman Who Helped Create NASA July 29, 2013 Eilene Galloway Eilene Galloway relaxes at her home in 2008. Credit: NASA When Eilene Galloway was born, the Wright Brothers' historic flight was less than three years old. Half a century later, Galloway helped create the agency that landed humans on the moon and continues to explore our home planet, the solar system and beyond. On July 29, 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, leading to the birth of NASA on Oct. 1, 1958. Galloway, who died in 2009 just short of her 103rd birthday, helped make it all happen. Galloway began work with the Congressional Research Service of the Library of Congress in 1941, researching and writing House and Senate documents including "Guided Missiles in Foreign Countries," released just before the Soviets launched Sputnik in October 1957. In 1958, then-U.S. Senator Lyndon B. Johnson asked her to help with Congressional hearings that led to the creation of NASA and America's entry into the Space Race. "The only thing I knew about outer space at that time," she said, "was that the cow had jumped over the Moon." Galloway helped write the legislation, emphasizing international cooperation and peaceful exploration. Later, she served as America's representative in drafting treaties governing the exploration and uses of outer space and launched the field of space law and international space law. She also served on nine NASA
Advisory Committees. Galloway also worked for several decades with the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and was also instrumental in creating the International Institute of Space Law, which serves as the forum for legal scholars and others from around the world in studying and debating the legal issues associated with the exploration and utilization of space, according to the AIAA. References › National Aeronautics and Space Act