Blue Moon and the Heavens Above

Here in Thailand, we have a popular lunar festival known as Loy Krathong. The holiday usually occurs on the full moon falling in November but the actual date changes because of the lunar calendar calculations. In November 2001, two full moons will occur in the same month. This phenomenon is known as a blue moon. This is a term we have heard in many romantic songs but just what is a blue moon?

A blue moon occurs once every 2.5 years, on the average. The next blue moon will be on the 30th of November 2001. The earlier full moon that month occurs on the 1st of November. The next occurrence of blue moon will appear in July of 2004.

The time between full moons is 29.5 days, which means there are a little over 12 lunar months every year (12.37). That's why any month, except February, can have two full moons. February can't because it's too short: 28 days (or 29 days on leap year), which is less than the time (29.5 days) it takes for another full moon to appear.

We lesser mortals constantly move in circles our circle of friends, the circle of the seasons and the circle of life and so to does our earth as it spins on its axis and circles around our sun. Everything around us is in whirling, spinning motion of which, most times, we are totally oblivious. But, on a clear, dark-velvet night, well away from the glare of city lights, it can be awe inspiring to gaze at the Heavens Above in which our Gods and Lords of Time also circle.

We are given on the best advice, from those who study such things, that 01.30 am of the 18th and 19th of this month, November 2001, might be a more than usually awesome time in which to gaze skyward. In 1998, the comet Temple-Tuttle made its 33-yearly sweep past the Earth's atmosphere leaving behind it a trail of space debris as it sped away on its vast orbit. And, once a year, as our Earth loops around our Sun, we skim through the remnants of that comet debris. The debris is made up of tiny particles of ash and dust and as it touches the Earth's atmosphere, it burns and is seen as a meteor shower Shooting Stars ! It is the Leonid meteor shower which will occur during this month so many people are hoping for good sky-clarity in order to see and record the events.

The Leonids named for the constellation Leo which looks like a reversed question mark will display in the eastern night-sky at approximately 45 above the horizon. Thousands of the tiny particles will flare and burn as they hit the Earth's atmosphere at speeds of 71 kilometers per second. Of course, even though they are intensely bright, the spectacle is lost in the glare and general "twinkle" of a city. So, if you would like to try to see the Leonid Shooting Stars, take yourself out into the dark countryside and watch ! It could be AWESOME !

Furthermore, Thai people would be lucky especially this year to see two more fantastic sights in the heaven C/2000 WM1 Linear Comet that was found recently by the astronomers and also the Planetoids West Stars that circles well for our excitement. Based on these 3 events, let's pray for peace but no wars.