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An astronomical event will occur tomorrow night (Sept. 30th) that I’ll bet you’ve never heard about. It’s called a “Black Moon.” Now what the heck is that?
You know what a Blue Moon is. I’ll do a quick recap. Now, it’s actually not a second full moon in any given month, like they keep telling us. Normally there is one full moon each calendar month, which means there are three full moons in any given season (each season lasts three months). Every so often a fourth full moon occurs during a season. Obviously that means there must be two full moons in one of the months of that season. The real Blue Moon is the third full moon in a season that has four full moons.
OK, so what’s a Black Moon? It’s the second new moon during a calendar month. The thing about a Black Moon is you won’t see it unless you live where the sky is very dark at night. We really can see a new moon due to earthshine. Sun reflected off the earth does weakly illuminate the moon. When the moon is completely in it’s own shadow (new moon), earthshine makes it look like the pic at the top of this diary.
This Black Moon will not happen all over the world, however. It will be an event for the Western Hemisphere only. How can that be when the entire world will see the new moon just as the entire world always sees full moons? It’s because the new moon will happen at 8:11 p.m. EDT on Sept. 30 which means it will be October 1st already in the Eastern Hemisphere.
But they won’t miss out on having a Black Moon. It’s gonna happen for them at the end of October because tomorrow’s new moon will happen on Oct. 1st for them and the next full moon happens on October 30th, the day before Halloween. BTW, this Halloween should be great for trick or treat as it will be quite bright outside on Halloween night. www.businessinsider.com/…
Just to make things more complicated, there are technically four different definitions of the term Black Moon, which is weird. The #1 definition is just what I explained. Personally, I’m partial. I like the second definition of a Black Moon the most since it’s the same as the definition of a true Blue Moon. It just makes the most sense to me. But what do I know?
Here are more things also called a “Black Moon” and when they occurred recently or will in the near future. Notice how February is the month that is responsible for most of these definitions. Well of course it is. en.wikipedia.org/...
1. The second occurrence of a new moon in a calendar month.[1][2][3][4][5] |
Cannot occur in February. Analogous to the common calendrical definition of a blue moon for months with two full moons. |
2. The third new moon in a season that has four of them. |
Analogous to the Farmers' Almanac definition of a blue moon for seasons with four full moons. |
3. The absence of a full moon in a calendar month.[1][6] |
Can only occur in February, thus one month soon before and one month soon after will each have a second full moon (a calendrical blue moon). |
4. The absence of a new moon in a calendar month.[6] |
Can only occur in February, thus January and March will each have a second new moon. As shown in 2014. |
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When: Monday, October 24th — 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Where: Asheville
Why: Connecting face to face, sharing information, getting inspired and adding to the crowd that is there to support Reverend Barber the week early voting starts.
Food: Restaurant TBD
Attendees:
randallt, Joieau, davehouck, Lamont Cranston, SteelerGrrl, SteelerGuy
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Read more details here.
NEW GROUPS FORMING:
Peregrine Kate organized canvassing for her local candidate, Paul Clements. Details about the event are here: Canvassing for Clements in MI-06! WE Are Making a Difference. YOU Can Help! Great job, Kate!
Seattle & Puget Sound Kos got together Sunday, August 14th to catch up. Even though some were hard-core Berners, they’re all voting for Clinton. Unity. Thanks to bleeding blue for organizing this meet-up!
WOW. Just WOW. See peregrine kate’s diary about connecting Kossacks at the DNC convention. Great job, Kate!
Her commentary is excellent and there’s terrific food pr0n! If you didn’t notice her coverage in her previous diaries while she was there you should look at her diary history. Stellar reporting! Thanks, Kate for hosting this group on behalf of Daily Kos.
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