BLUE MOON: And, so, we may not be as “”loony”” as some had
suspected.[neWLine]
We’ve been edifying readers (and ourselves) about the definition
of a “”blue moon,”” a phenomenon that apparently has more than one
explanation – astronomically speaking.[neWLine]
In the process, we’ve found out there’s much more to this
subject that we had dreamed.[neWLine]
A couple more tidbits today before we move on to other
topics:[neWLine]
Jack Rosenswie of Smethport writes us, “”I am in the process of
completing a book on night fly fishing for big brown trout in north
central Pennsylvania titled the ‘Dark Of The Moon.'””[neWLine]
“”For your readers that are fly fishermen, please find below:
future blue moons (two full moons/month), Dec. 1 and Dec. 31, 2009;
Aug. 1 and Aug. 31, 2012; July 1 and July 31, 2015;[neWLine]
“”Future black moons (two new moons/month), Aug. 1 and Aug. 30,
2008; July 1 and 30, 2011; and Jan. 1 and 30, 2014.[neWLine]
“”The dark of the moon is the very best time to catch big brown
trout at night on flies. Interesting fact … the black moons always
precede the year of the blue moons. And yes, there are never,
never, ever three blue or black moons in one given month! Good luck
fishing … our beautiful moon controls it all!””[neWLine]
And, finally, we hear from John McCoy who puts the discussion in
terms even we can grasp: “”Since the moon takes a little over 29
days to orbit the earth, most months have one full
moon.””[neWLine]
However, he also points to a relevant website and reiterates
that that conventional thinking – the blue moon as the second full
moon in a calendar month – has only been common since 1946 and that
the older meaning had been the third full moon per
season.[neWLine]
He adds, “” … and, although there will be a blue moon (under the
modern definition) on June 30 on the prime meridian (0 degrees
longitude), in the eastern United States, the blue moon was at a
few minutes after 9 p.m. on May 31.””[neWLine]
“”Because of the time difference, the moon that was full in
London early in the morning of June 1 was Bradford’s second full
moon in the month of May and the June 30 moon will be Bradford’s
first full moon in June.””[neWLine]
So did you get all that? We did (kinda).
