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Mangalore Today
Once in a Blue Moon - New Year is very special...
ONCE IN a blue moon there is a New Year’s Eve. The New Year 2010 will be treated to a so called blue moon celebration. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. The name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial neighbor.
A full moon occurred on December. 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year’s countdown.
This year, New Year eve parties could wind up earlier than usual as people may rush off to catch the twin lunar spectacle which will unfold the night of December 31 and remain visible till the early hours of January 1, 2010.
Why two full moons in a single month? It’s because the natural cycle of moon phases doesn’t perfectly match up with our human-made calendar.
"The lengths of the months in our calendar were set arbitrarily by Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar over 2,000 years ago," said English astronomer David Harper, who is a fellow of the Royal Astronomical Society and author of the Once in a Blue Moon Web site.
Today people define a blue moon as the second full moon of the month, a definition inadvertently introduced by Sky and Telescope magazine in 1946 and subsequently popularized in the 1980s by a Trivial Pursuit board game question. But the saying "once in a blue moon"—meaning "not very often"—has been around for at least 150 years. And the phrase "blue moon" has been used for at least four centuries, according to Hiscock’s research, which he reported in the March 1999 issue of Sky and Telescope.
A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month – a blue moon – occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year’s Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won’t come again until 2028.
After knowing the interesting facts about blue moon most of the people will be winding up the New Year party at 12 pm and rush to their homes to have a glimpse of the eclipse. Also excited are amateur astronomers and enthusiastic star gazers who are already polishing their telescopes for a better view of the event in the sky.
Arvind Paranjpye, scientific officer, Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) says, “It will be a visual treat if weather permits. The long duration of the eclipse will give people a better chance to witness it,” he says, adding that the best time to view it will be between 1 and 3 am on January 1.
Blue moons have no astronomical significance, said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.
But here our city astrologers are not looking forward to the event as much others. Noted astrologer Divagyna Somyaji says, “Astrologically speaking, starting the calendar year with an eclipse could lead to problems, two eclipses within a fortnight, the lunar eclipse on December 31 and the solar eclipse on January 15 could increase the possibility of natural calamities. “Political turmoil will continue and the double eclipses will have different impacts on different people,”
Let us not worry and think much. Let’s celebrate this New Year with sheer enthusiasm, spreading happiness all over the world.
Courtesy: Merinews
"Gone are yesterdays,tomorrow begins today"
Each moment in a day has its own value. Morning brings HOPE, Afternoon brings FAITH, Evening brings LOVE, Night brings REST, Hope you will have all of them everyday. HAPPY NEW YEAR 2010.