BLUE MOON: “What lunatic thinks there can be three full moons in
a month?”

OK, we deserved that. Matthew Miller, with that pithy and
perfect pun, adds: “The lunar cycle has been 28 days since creation
so it would be lunacy to have a full moon every 14 or 15 days. Did
anybody on your journalistic staff actually go outside the last few
nights and see the moon?”

His was just one of a few dozen comments we got when we reported
last week about the rarity of three full moons – a “blue moon” – in
a single month.

Common sense and a little thought would have told us, of course,
that three “moons” are possible – but not three full moons. One of
the three is a new “moon” which doesn’t even count since you can’t
see it!

Not only did our comments give us a refresher course in
astronomy but provided some new (to us) information about our
calendar. We’ll need today and tomorrow to explain.

Today, more of our rhetorical questions on the subject:

Bill of Port Allegany asks, “Are you guys kidding. Two full
moons every month? Three in one? What planet are you living
on?”

Greg Henton of Bradford: “If we ever ever ever have three full
moons in one month, please let me know. The moon orbit rate would
have to increase 50 percent for that to happen. Since it has been
stable for some 2 billion years, I am betting it did not change
this month.”

Andy Brodis writes, “What the – ??? The month developed on the
moon phases, one per month (usually) sometimes two (second one in
same month equals ‘blue moon’) three a month – Never!”

Full moon dates for this calendar year are Jan. 3, Feb. 2, March
3, April 2, May 2, June 1 and 30, July 30, Aug. 28, Sept. 26, Oct.
26, Nov. 24 and Dec. 24. “As Homer Simpson would say, ‘doh!'” he
adds.

And George Hanes adds, “Three full moons in one month!? You have
got to be kidding. We usually have one full moon in each month.
When we have the second full moon, that is called the blue moon.The
moon takes about 28.5 days to complete one trip around the earth.
So, it is possible for a month to have two full moons, but never,
never three.”