A Blue Moon

Blue moon sounds like a moon that's blue. And it can mean that, sometimes. But that's not the real definition.

By the calendar, a blue moon is the second full moon of a month. The original definition (a seasonal blue moon) is the 3rd full moon in a season that has 4 full moons. Either way, a blue moon occurs approximately every 2.68 years.

The full moon of August 31st, 2012 was a blue moon by the calendar. I had to see it, because I won't see another for at least 2.68 years (I'll see a seasonal blue moon in August 2013, though). So I got a camera and a tripod and headed outside.

It was warm, and everything cast shadows from the moon's light. The first thing I did was to set up my camera and tripod and point it at my house. After changing the camera's settings, I took a picture. Here's what I got:

Moonlit House

Pleased with the results, I took some more pictures, a few of which you can see in my last post. I didn't actually get a picture of the moon for quite a while. When I finally did, I got this:

Doesn't look very blue, does it?

Here are some more pictures I took:

"Look at the moon!"

Cold light

My last Blue Moon photo

When I was satisfied, I stopped taking photos and went inside.

Did some of the photos look dayish? Well, they were not taken during the day; each one was taken in the moonlight after twilight. If you don't believe me, click on a photo and look closely; there are stars in the sky. I'll explain the trick later.