take time to peek up at the sky tonight, New Year's Eve will be lit by a heavenly blue moon!

[peacebird]

Let's hope it's an auspicious omen ushering in the new decade!

:grouphug:

[japple]

1. We'll be having rain and fog tonight, but I did witness the moon

in near fullness on Tuesday night, which was crystal clear, and it was beautiful! So were the stars.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Clarification: blue moon = two full moons in the same month.

Do not expect to see some sort of atmospheric phenomenon that makes the moon actually look blue.

[phasma ex machina]

5. Shhhh. Supposed to be secret.

:rofl:

[applegrove]

27. I never knew that. I love factoids. Thanks.

[phasma ex machina]

3. .

[REP]

4. That's not a blue moon; next one is Dec 5 2010

This one is not an "extra" moon.

[Deep13]

8. The lunar cycle is 28 days.

If it is full before local midnight, then it must be the second one of the month. Is it not full tonight?

[peacebird]

10. Yes - it is the second full moon this month!

[KansDem]

6. Blue moon!

...you saw me standing alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own

Blue Moon, you knew just what I was there for
You heard me saying a prayer for
Someone I really could care for

And then there suddenly appeared before me
The only one my arms will ever hold
I heard somebody whisper, "Please adore me"
And when I looked, the moon had turned to gold

Blue Moon, now I'm no longer alone
Without a dream in my heart
Without a love of my own
:loveya:

[chollybocker]

23. Rodgers and Hart. The best.

Billie Holiday does a nice version...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYjn4JNbHWM&feature=PlayList&p=4AE0B2EAEE289CD4&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=9

[Deep13]

7. wall to wall clouds all weekend

no Mars viewing. :-(

[liberal_at_heart]

9. It had the sky lit up very bright last night. Beautiful.

I will definitely go outside tonight and enjoy it.

[Arctic Dave]

11. First clear sky in a week and half. Got a new telescope for Christmas.

Gonna be awesome!

[peacebird]

12. New telescope? VERY cool!

Enjoy!!!

[Arctic Dave]

14. It has been clouded over so I haven't had a chance to calibrate it.

Waiting for the sun to go down.

[omega minimo]

15. Fantastic. Can we all come over?!!

:bounce:

[Arctic Dave]

17. Star Party stars at 9:00, bring jammies. :)

[Blue_In_AK]

21. It's a gorgeous day today, isn't it?

We just got back from a walk on the Coastal Trail. It was beautiful and so much appreciated after all the clouds and fog.

[Arctic Dave]

22. Yeah, I'm sooo happy to see the sun.

I'd rather have clear and cold the overcast and dreary. Reminds me of Juneau too much.

[Bluebear]

13. It is big, bright and beautiful here in NH

[omega minimo]

16. from DaykeeperJournal

http://www.daykeeperjournal.com/2009/12/blue-moon-eclipse/

This lunation, occurring on the last day of the year, can help sweep away low-vibration attitudes and situations, generating a force field of joy to bless the New Year.

Joy is usually associated with the winter holidays, as it is with other happy events, circumstances, and perhaps spontaneous epiphanies. Most of us have less mirth than we would like in our lives, especially if past or present circumstances have brought us down. A look at the current news doesn’t do much to cheer us up, with its reports of global warming, the children of Gaza and Afghanistan, innocent prisoners of the war on terror, not to mention the meltdown of the economic system. Although sadness, grief and dutifulness are all natural conditions at some time, it’s too easy to let such feelings become habitual attitudes.

Capricorn Sun is about purposeful effort, and the Sabian degree for this eclipse, describing a clown and the healing power of humor, reminds us that joy is a state of mind, a well-spring in the soul that we can choose to retrieve, independent of circumstance. As Dane Rudhyar says in his commentary, “Laughter deconditions….” In her book, The Manipulated Mind, Denise Winn shares evidence that the ability to laugh in the face of oppression is in fact a key to resist brainwashing and even to survival in concentration camps. Laughter is a synonym of joy, a magical vibration that starts in the emotions and works itself into other areas. Cultivating good cheer can spontaneously unleash a higher way of living: lifting us out of depression and self-pity, accelerating the body’s natural healing abilities, turning on the law of attraction for happy circumstances, success and fun. My husband, psychologist-musician Fernando Ruiz, says violin music clears out bad vibrations. In a similar fashion, in the face of joy difficulties can fade away like fog in the morning sun.

Eclipses help us let go of whatever is needed to move along on the next phase of our growth, Cancer is about emotions. As we move into a year marked by a potentially explosive cardinal cross, we can use the lunation that takes place on its doorstep, connecting to the highest and the best it will offer by taking on the shield of joy.

[Skip Intro]

18. The Mayans tried to warn us...

:D

[Catshrink]

19. Cool! It's my birthday and my favorite color is blue.

I'm feeling extra special.

:beer: & :party:

[omega minimo]

20. Happy Birthday, Catshrink!!!

:toast:

[peacebird]

28. happy bday!

[muriel_volestrangler]

24. Not so fast: Sky and Telescope have admitted they made up that 'rule' incorrectly

by misunderstanding what the Maine Farmers' Almanac, who seem to have been the first to specify certain moons as 'blue', was doing:

At last we have the "Maine rule" for Blue Moons: Seasonal Moon names are assigned near the spring equinox in accordance with the ecclesiastical rules for determining the dates of Easter and Lent. The beginnings of summer, fall, and winter are determined by the dynamical mean Sun. When a season contains four full Moons, the third is called a Blue Moon.

Why is the third full Moon identified as the extra one in a season with four? Because only then will the names of the other full Moons, such as the Moon Before Yule and the Moon After Yule, fall at the proper times relative to the solstices and equinoxes.
...
Oops!

Some three years later, in March 1946, an article entitled "Once in a Blue Moon" appeared in Sky & Telescope (page 3). Its author, James Hugh Pruett (1886-1955), was an amateur astronomer living in Eugene, Oregon, and a frequent contributor to S&T. Pruett wrote on a variety of topics, especially fireball meteors. In his article on Blue Moons, he mentioned the 1937 Maine almanac and repeated some of Lafleur's earlier comments. Then, unfortunately, he went on to say, "Seven times in 19 years there were — and still are — 13 full moons in a year. This gives 11 months with one full moon each and one with two. This second in a month, so I interpret it, was called Blue Moon."


Pruett must not have had the 1937 almanac handy, or he would have noticed that the Blue Moon fell on August 21st (obviously not the second full Moon that month) and that 1937 had only 12 full Moons. But only in retrospect is his error so obvious.

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/moon/3304131.html?showAll=y&c=y

According to the Wikipedia page for Blue Moon, there hasn't been one this year; there will be one on Nov 21st, 2010.

[BreweryYardRat]

25. It's cloudy here.

Was nice and clear last night, though.

[B Calm]

26. but it's 18 degrees outside!

[a kennedy]

29. saw it and was awed by it.......

:party: :toast: :bounce: :thumbsup: :loveya: :grouphug: :fistbump: :woohoo: :applause: :patriot: