Top marks if you recognised the song – yep, it’s ‘Blue Moon’:
We had a blue moon last night but in a rare coincidence it was also a supermoon. A blue moon is merely a man-made event – two full moons in a calendar month – but a supermoon happens when the moon’s orbit is close to the earth. I’ve been trying all day to get my head around these orbits and how they interact: the earth orbiting the sun whilst twirling on its own axis plus being orbited by the moon at the same time but in an elliptical orbit. The mind boggles.
Mistakenly I thought the blue-super-moon was the night before last, so I got up to look. But at 5 am nothing was visible; not even enough black sky to make a sailor’s morning outfit. Incidentally the expression ‘enough blue to make a pair of sailor’s breeches’ drives Mark crazy because it’s so inexact. What does it mean? he fulminates. ‘I guess it means that when you look at the sky, the blue patch appears just big enough for a sailor’s trousers,’ I explain. ‘It’s a matter of perception.’ After which he usually goes off to grunt in a corner for a while.
Anyway, here is a photo Daniel took about 4 am. It’s good and clear, but I have to say I’ve seen more impressive moons…
Bob-bob-a-bob-a-dang-a-dang-dang
Blue mooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooon.
Kirk out
Sarada Gray 