Halloween
night
is the scariest night of the year.
The American tradition came to Spain years ago to stay, and more and more people dare to dress up, decorate their home, or ask for the "trick or treat" characteristic of these dates.
This year, however, the global crisis caused by covid-19 has made the situation not very conducive to trick-or-treating from house to house and it is more than advisable to go to costume parties.
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Despite everything, October 31 remains a special date around the world.
Halloween in the United States, Day of the Dead in Mexico, or All Saints' Eve in Spain, is an unavoidable appointment for much of the planet.
Although it is advisable to stay at home, we can take advantage of it to dress up as a family, spend an afternoon putting makeup on our faces like a catrina, or making sweets with terrifying shapes in the oven.
Blue full moon
In addition, to complete a "magical" night, this year there is a phenomenon that, according to NASA, is repeated every 2.5 years: two full moons in the same month.
This October 31 there is therefore what is called a
"blue full moon"
, since at the beginning of the month (exactly October 2) we already enjoyed a first full moon.
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The last time we were able to observe a
blue moon
was on March 31, 2018 (just two years and 7 months ago), so we can say that this phenomenon is relatively rare.
The lunar cycle lasts 29.53 average solar days (29 days, 12 hours, 43 minutes and 12 Earth seconds) so it is usual that we can only observe one full moon each month.
However, the accumulated delay (the months have 30 or 31 days) allows us to contemplate two full moons from time to time in the same monthly payment.
In addition, this second moon of October will be even more special, since it will be the first blue moon to coincide with
Halloween
night
since 1944, and it will not coincide again until the next 2039.
Why is it called the blue moon?
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Although it is called a
"blue moon"
the satellite will look the same whitish color we are used to.
The name comes from the translation of
blue moon
, an expression used by NASA to describe the second full moon of the same month.
To understand why it is called
blue moon
we have to go back to the Middle Ages, when it was said that this moon was "traitor" (
belewe
, which means traitor in old English) because it appeared when no one expected it.
In this way,
belewe
was transformed over the centuries into
blue
.
Can there be a blue moon?
Yes, we can see the moon in different shades, including blue, in case there is something in the atmosphere that generates this filter (for example ash, smoke ...).
In fact, in 1883, as a result of an eruption experienced by the Indonesian volcano Krakatoa, a bluish appearance of the satellite was recorded during several full moons due to the particles that traveled through the atmosphere from this natural catastrophe.