Sky Gazers Will See Dazzling Blue Moon On October 31st, Know The Significance, Timing And Phenomenon

Much to the delight of skywatchers, they will experience the once in a blue moon phase.

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Blue Moon 2020: The festive month of October will be more special tomorrow as we are set to experience a real “once in a blue moon” phenomenon on October 31. Blue Moon has been a significant part of enticing folklores from time immemorial while being a crucial element in the backdrop of dramatic, mysterious and horror stories. Following that, Blue Moon will be visible in the night sky on October 31st from around 8.19 PM. Besides that, this year, October has two full Moons out of which the second moon is usually anointed as Blue Moon. The occurrence of the first full moon took place around October 1 and October 2 while the second full moon is poised to take place in a few days.

What is a Blue moon?

The term Blue Moon is a calendrical term. When there are two full moons in a calendar month, the second full moon is called the Blue Moon. It is not too common to have a Blue Moon in a month of 30 days. The blue moon happens as the Earth's elliptical makes the smallest angle with respect to the horizon while eventually making the Moon appearing to be glowing and illuminating at its fullest. This Blue Moon is also known as the Hunter's Moon because it provides plenty of moonlight for hunters to collect meat for the winters.

When does a blue moon occur?

The reason behind this phenomenon is that the lunar month has a duration of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 38 seconds. Therefore, to have two full moons in a month, the first full moon should take place on 1st or 2nd of the month.This extra time accumulates over the months. After about 30 months there will be one extra full moon in the year. According to the scientists it is also not possible to have a full moon in February as it has 28 days, and 29 days during a leap year.

Blue moon occurrences

The last Blue Moon in a month with 30 days was on June 30, 2007 and the next one will be on September 30, 2050.

When will it be visible in India?

The Blue moon, a fairly infrequent phenomenon will occur on October 31 at 8.19 pm. People from both North America and South America will see it as will Africa, all of Europe, and much of Asia.