Blue Moon Today - 31 Aug. 2012

We have two full moons in the month of August. One happened last Aug. 1 and the other one is today, Aug. 31. It is called blue moon not because the moon is blue. It is the 2nd full moon in a month.

The term "blue moon" is not from the distant past. It was a term used by the farmers in Maines Famers Almanac to refer to the third full moon in a season with four full moons. James Pruett, an amateur astronomer read the term from the said almanac in 1946. He misinterpreted the phrase and thought it was the second full moon of the month. He wrote an article in Sky and Telescope magazine and used the meaning of the term. The new meaning got stuck and that is what we term now as Blue Moon.

The last blue moon was in March 2010. The next one will be around 2015.

Lunar Eclipse June 2011

I am very fascinated with celestial bodies and seeing the beautiful moon on its total eclipse is such a wonderful experience. The total lunar eclipse this time is viewable in South Africa, Middle East and Asian regions. I am very lucky to be able to witness such phenomenon. It started around 10:20 UAE time and lasted about an hour. I didn't wait for the clearing because it would take around 5 hours for the eclipse to run its course.

I captured the different phases of the eclipse with a normal digital camera on night setting using a tripod. Pardon my amateur snaps because I don't have a very good equipment. The settings of the camera kept changing to the default so you would notice some pics were taken nicely and the others were a bit fuzzy. However, it's very rare that we get to see a beautiful scene such as the lunar eclipse. The next one may be in December 2011.

Here are the snaps for those who missed to see it. Enjoy!

Partial Solar Eclipse - 4 January 2011

I felt like I was a child seeing something phenomenal for the first time. I have seen eclipses before when I was still a kid but not as an adult. I got to have a full view of the mighty sun with the moon's partial shadow this afternoon around 1345 hours Dubai time. The sun looked like it was being bitten by the moon. 

It was so fascinating! However, where is your camera when you need one?!?

According to astronomers and sky watchers, we will not get the chance to enjoy a view like these until 2015. And I am thankful to witness this partial solar eclipse which does not happen too often.