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the Summer Blue Moon
"Beneath the velvet night it climbs,
A silver ghost of fleeting time,
Once in a whisper, soft and rare,
The blue moon’s glow hangs pure and fair."
This dark blue sky tartan positively glows with it's shaft of golden moonlight and moonshine echoes and is especially apropos for this August's Blue Moon, the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. In this case, it occurs during the summer season, which runs from the June solstice to the September equinox! The August full moon is traditionally known as the Sturgeon Moon in North America, named for the abundance of sturgeon in the Great Lakes, a prime fishing time for the Algonquin tribes. Other names for this moon include the Green Corn Moon, Barley Moon, Fruit Moon, and Grain Moon, all celebrating the early harvest season. In the Celtic tradition, however, it’s called the Lynx Moon or the Dispute Moon! It was believed that the full moon could heighten emotions and lead to conflicts. Thus it was considered wise to be cautious during this time and avoid quarrels. Watch those tempers, Celts! 🌕 💙 🤍 💛 ⭐ ☪ 🐟 🌽 🌾 ✨ 🔭
"Once in a Blue Moon" is an expression used to describe something that doesn't happen very often.
Astronomically, a "blue moon" is an additional full moon that appears in a subdivision of a year: either the third of four full moons in a season, or a second full moon in a month of the common calendar, depending on the astronomical or the current common definition.
Although the term doesn't refer to the actual color of the moon, there was a time, not long ago, when people saw actual bluish-colored moons almost every night. Full moons, half moons, crescent moons - they were all blue, except some nights when they were green!
The time was 1883, the year an Indonesian volcano named Krakatoa exploded. Scientists liken the blast to a 100-megaton nuclear bomb. Plumes of ash rose to the very top of earth's atmosphere. And the moon turned blue.
Some of the ash-clouds were filled with particles about 1 micron (one millionth of a meter) wide - the right size to strongly scatter red light, while allowing other colors to pass. White moonbeams shining through the clouds emerged blue, and sometimes green.
Blue moons persisted for years after the eruption. People also saw lavender suns and, for the first time, noctilucent clouds (night shining clouds).
Other less potent volcanos have turned the moon blue, too. People saw blue moons in 1983, for instance, after the eruption of the El Chichon volcano in Mexico. And there are reports of blue moons caused by Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980 and Mount Pinatubo in 1991.
By designer Carol A.L. Martin, this tartan was inspired by a blue moon in December 2009. She states: "Where I live in northern Canada, winter nights are dark, but the full moon produces easily-seen shadows on the snow behind objects such as trees. I have attempted to show this effect here."
For more on the appearance of actual blue-coloured moons, click the moon photograph above.