Abstract
Sky and Telescope for March has an article by J. Hugh Pruett with the title “Once in a Blue Moon”, in which there is a discussion of the origin of the expression. The chief interest in the article consists, not so much in referring to the theories regarding the origin of 'a blue moon', as in providing irrefutable evidence from several sources that a blue moon has actually been observed on different occasions. The author of the article states that he saw the phenomenon himself on July 28, 1944. The moon was at the first-quarter phase that day and was thinly veiled by a small patch of high cirrus clouds which were tinted a beautiful orange-red by the sun just below the horizon. It was thought that the lunar blue might be the effect of contrast with the red of the clouds, but this view was shown to be incorrect because the moon soon floated out into a clear sky, and was just as blue as ever. Others with Mr. Pruett witnessed the phenomenon, which persisted for 15 minutes but gradually disappeared as the sky darkened. Many others have witnessed a similar occurrence at different times and no explanation is offered for the phenomenon, which is not, of course, astronomical but meteorological, and possibly partly psychological.
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A Blue Moon. Nature 158, 194–195 (1946). https://doi.org/10.1038/158194e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/158194e0