A night on the South Downs - Once in a Blue Moon

[Farawayvisions]

On the last night of July, my boyfriend and I cycled from our home on the shores of Southampton water, to the top of Beacon Hill in the South Downs. It was the night of the Blue Moon, the sky was clear, the stars twinkled and the beer was great.
http://www.farawayvisions.com/blue-moon-bivvy-on-beacon-hill/

[phil parker]

A different Beacon Hill than I was initially thinking of, but great trip.

I tried to explain to a friend what the Blue Moon was, but it got lost a 'lack of detailed information' to the extent that she was later annoyed because she missed it!

[Heltor Chasca]

Another piece of lovely writing. Thank you. Half pints, full packets of crisps, discarded boxer shorts, Owl guardians, Boomtown Fair. It's all in there....b

[Farawayvisions]

Thanks Phil

I tried to explain to a friend what the Blue Moon was, but it got lost a 'lack of detailed information'

Here is a full explanation by astronomer Dr David Harper. Perhaps this might help your friend understand. http://www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html

[Farawayvisions]

Cheers Heltor.

[ambodach]

There was a blue moon sometime in the mid 1950's caused by prairie fires in Canada. Never went cycling under it tho' it was really spectacular.

[phil parker]

Last Friday's Blue Moon was also extra special as it occurred when the moon was closer to the earth making it appear much bigger and apparently more silver as well.

Still they don't occur very often, only once in a....

[dakari-mane]

<3 Boomtown.

It's best described as a festival for wreckheads.

Looks like an awesome trip.

[hondated]

Definitely got me thinking Meraid Thanks

[maxglide]

One of my favourite circuits! Did you go up Sailors Lane to Beacon Hill?

[Farawayvisions]

One of my favourite circuits! Did you go up Sailors Lane to Beacon Hill?

We did indeed.

[iviehoff]

Thanks Phil

I tried to explain to a friend what the Blue Moon was, but it got lost a 'lack of detailed information'

Here is a full explanation by astronomer Dr David Harper. Perhaps this might help your friend understand. http://www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html

He refers us to another source for the most important discussion. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... blue-moon/

Which confirms rather what I thought, that the use of the term to mean "the second full moon in a calendar month" - which I had never even heard of until this month - is a modern and contrived usage. It is also highly specific to the time-zone you live in, which just confirms the contrived nature of it.

[Farawayvisions]

Thanks Phil

I tried to explain to a friend what the Blue Moon was, but it got lost a 'lack of detailed information'

Here is a full explanation by astronomer Dr David Harper. Perhaps this might help your friend understand. http://www.obliquity.com/astro/bluemoon.html

He refers us to another source for the most important discussion. http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observin ... blue-moon/

Which confirms rather what I thought, that the use of the term to mean "the second full moon in a calendar month" - which I had never even heard of until this month - is a modern and contrived usage. It is also highly specific to the time-zone you live in, which just confirms the contrived nature of it.

The blue moon on this occasion was unusual in that it was visible in every time zone on the same date.

[iviehoff]

The blue moon on this occasion was unusual in that it was visible in every time zone on the same date.

Hmm. I wonder what they meant by that. There is an exact moment to a full moon, and it won't be visible in all time zones at that moment - although if you define the time zones astronomically rather than politically, then in principle if the full moon occurs at the south pole at exactly 12pm GMT, then it is visible in all time zones simultaneously on the same day, since all the time zones an infinitesimal distance from the south pole experience the same date at that moment. If we define time zones more politically, then it can only be approximately true, because there are people living at different dates at quite a broad range of longitude, because the westernmost inhabited Aleutian Islands of Alaska are living in "yesterday" quite a long way west of people living in far eastern Siberia in "tomorrow". But approximately, if the moment of full moon occurred so it was just visible on the "tomorrow" (NZ) side of the dateline, but hardly visible not on the "yesterday" (American Samoa) side, then maybe we could say it was approximately true. Without this, by the time it was visible on the "tomorrow" side of the dateline, it must be tomorrow in comparison to those who just recently first saw it on the "yesterday" side.