By Goldie Krawec
The Times
On the night of July 2 we witnessed the first of two full moons for the month of July. The second will occur on July 31.
July, this year will have a “Blue Moon.”
What is a Blue Moon? The modern day definition of a Blue Moon is when there are two full moons in one month. A full moon occurs roughly every 29.5 days and on the rare occasions when the full moon falls at the very beginning of a month there is a good chance a Blue Moon will occur at the end of the month.
The last Blue Moon month was August of 2012 when full moons occurred on Aug. 2 and Aug. 31.
The next Blue Moon months will be in 2018. The first occurring Jan. 2 and Jan. 31, with the second occurring two months later, March 2 and March 31.
In 2020, a Blue moon will occur in October and in 2023 in August. This is something to look forward to. Why don’t you mark these important dates on your calendar of things to do? Hope that the cloud cover is sparse and you can witness the next time two full moons occur in one month.
In the year 2034, a Blue Moon happens again on July 1 and 31, the same month as this year.
As we learned in school, the moon is full when the moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. When this occurs the entire surface of the moon looks to be illuminated. On the evening of July 1 the moon seemed closer to earth than it did on July 2.
Have you ever tried looking at the moon through binoculars? This will bring out a lot of details we miss with the naked eye. Whatever power your glasses are means it brings the moon that much closer to us. Try it.