Legend has it that ghosts and spirits are more active on Halloween, but these ghoulish entities are not the only things coming out on October 31 – a rare Blue Moon is set to rise on the same day.
The full moon phase, which is the lunar orbs position in in orbit, begins on Saturday at 10:49am ET.
Earth’s natural satellite will not shine blue, but bares the name as it is the second full moon to appear this month – the first occurs October 1.
The cosmic display happens seven times every 19 years, which means the world will not see the next one on October 31 until 2039.
However, this is the first time a Blue Moon has appeared across the world on Halloween since World War II.
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Legend has it that ghosts and spirits are more active on Halloween, but these ghoulish entities are not the only things coming out on October 31 – a rare Blue Moon is also set to rise on the same day. Pictured is a Blue Moon snapped in 2018 hanging over San Francisco, California
It should make for a spectacular show on Halloween that has not happened since 1944.
People in North and South America will have a glimpse of the Blue Moon, along with those in India, Europe and Asia.
The idea of a Blue Moon as the second full moon in a month comes from an article in the March 1946 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine.
This issue published an an article called Once in a Blue Moon by James Hugh Pruett, who referred to the 1937 Maine Farmer’s Almanac, but with a simpler definition.
‘Seven times in 19 years there were – and still are – 13 full moons in a year,’ he wrote.
The full moon phase, which is the lunar orbs position in in orbit, begins on Saturday at 10:49am ET. Earth’s natural satellite will not shine blue, but bares the name as it is the second full moon to appear this month – the first occurs October 1
‘This gives 11 months with one full moon each and one with two.’
‘This second in a month, so I interpret it, was called Blue Moon.’
A moon can turn blue, but the signing is very rare.
NASA shares that this is also deemed the Hunter’s Moon, the full moon that follows the Harvest Moon that appeared on October 1.
‘According to the Farmer’s Almanac, with the leaves falling and the deer fattened, this was the time to hunt. Since the harvesters had reaped the fields, hunters could easily see the animals that have come out to glean (and the foxes that have come out to prey on them),’ reads NASA’s statement.
People in North and South America will have a glimpse of the Blue Moon, along with those in India, Europe and Asia. The idea of a Blue Moon as the second full moon in a month comes from an article in the March 1946 issue of Sky and Telescope magazine. Pictured is the Blue Moon hanging over Russia
‘The earliest use of the term ‘Hunter’s Moon’ cited in the Oxford English Dictionary is from 1710.’
On Halloween night, Jupiter will appear in the southwest and Mars will shine brightly in the east-southeast.
However, at 2am ET we ‘fall back’ one hour to 1am ET -but the good news is, you will have an extra hour of sleep.
This post first appeared on Dailymail.co.uk
