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Appropriately for the scariest night of the year, there will be something unusual in the sky this Halloween: a blue hunter’s moon.
The moon will not (sadly) be blue, but it is the second full moon of the month, which makes it a blue moon (at least for some definitions, see below).
Full moons are separated by 29 days, NASA says, and most months last 30 or 31 days, so a “blue moon” occurs on average every two and a half years.
A hunter’s moon is the next full moon after the harvest moon, seen this year in early October.
Full moons occur when the moon appears as a full circle in the sky, when the entire side of the moon facing the Earth is illuminated by the sun.
Read more: 5 myths about the moon (and how to disprove them yourself)
The moon will be full at 2:49 p.m. on October 31, according to the Royal Museums in Greenwich.
A blog post at Royal Museums Greenwich explains: “At first glance it may seem strange to think of a full moon during daylight hours.
“The reason this happens is that the time refers to the exact moment when the Sun and the Moon are aligned on opposite sides of the Earth.
“This moment is known as the ‘syzygy’ of the Sun-Earth-Moon system and can happen at any time of the day or night.”
NASA expert Gordon Johnston says American names for full moons, such as Hunter’s Moon, are derived from Native American folklore.
Johnston writes: “The Maine Farmer’s Almanac first published Native American names for full moons in the 1930s.
Blue moons, despite the name, aren’t actually blue. Stock, Galway, Ireland (Getty)
“Over time these names have become widely known and used.
“The Hunter’s Moon is the full moon after the Harvest Moon. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, with the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it’s time to hunt.
“Since the reapers have reaped the fields, hunters can easily see the animals that have come out to glean (and the foxes that have come for them).
“The first use of the term” Hunter’s Moon “mentioned in the Oxford English Dictionary dates back to 1710.”
Read more: What is a supermoon?
Strictly speaking, the definition of a “blue moon” as the second full moon in a given month is wrong, but it is now widely used, says the Royal Museums Greenwich.
Royal Museums Greenwich writes: “Traditionally the definition of a blue moon is the third full moon in an astronomical season containing four full moons.
“Astronomical seasons begin and end at the equinoxes and solstices (eg the winter season begins at the winter solstice and ends at the spring equinox, the spring season begins at the spring equinox and ends at the summer solstice and etc).
“Another definition of a blue moon, perhaps the most commonly used for its simplicity, is actually a mistake, made in the 1940s and perpetuated by radio programs and the board game Trivial Pursuit in the 1980s.
“This definition describes the blue moon as the second full moon in any calendar month with two full moons.”
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