Blue Moon to ring in New Year 2010?

William Atkins
Sunday, 27 December 2009 20:00

Science - Space

A Blue Moon on the night of December 31, 2009, may help New Year celebrators ring in the New Year of 2010. Although, is this really the case? And, if you see an actual 'blue' Moon, you’ve probably been drinking too much of the bubbly. Or, maybe have a Blue Moon beer in your hand?


A Blue Moon is commonly defined as a second full Moon in any given calendar month. It occurs about once every 2.5 years.

In December 2009, it happened on December 2nd and will happen again on December 31st. More precisely, a Blue Moon occurs, on average, once every 2.7154 years.

For a Blue Moon to happen on New Year’s Eve, however, the chance of this event happening is a little rarer.

The next Blue Moon on New Year’s Eve is not expected to happen again until the year 2028.

However, according to the Netaxs.com website What is a Blue Moon?, “The first definition (second full moon in a calendar month) was invented by Sky and Telescope magazine in March 1946, apparently by a contributor who misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac. This definition was subsequently promulgated in other news media, and has become almost the "accepted" one, despite its modernity. In March 1999, Sky and Telescope magazine finally published a very belated correction/retraction.”

For current information on Blue Moon in reference to the Maine Farmer’s Almanac, please read the Sky & Telescope article “What's a Blue Moon?: The trendy definition of "blue Moon" as the second full Moon in a month is a mistake .”

Page two continues with the color blue for a Moon.