• E-mail
• Print
• Comment
• Font Size
• Digg
• del.icio.us
• Discuss article

A Blue Moon to Light Up the Sky

Posted on: Tuesday, 3 August 2004, 06:00 CDT

The rare occurrence, when the moon is full twice in one month, was the subject for children at a YWCA learning center.

It was a colorful question for Shelby Kelly, 5, and she had a colorful answer.

"A beautiful rainbow flower!" she shouted, giggling.

Kristen Moore, 5, pondered her answer quietly for a moment.

"I think it's a star," she said.

The other children at the Patti Johnson Wilson YWCA's Early Learning Center thought that sounded like a good answer.

"Yeah, a star," echoed Reagan Boyd, 5, smiling shyly, her face and hair dusted with glitter.

"A beautiful star!" added Shelby.

But Clair Castleberry, 5, had her own idea. She leaned forward and lowered her voice.

"A blue moon," she said solemnly, "is hair."

No, Clair, a blue moon isn't hair. Or a flower. Or a star.

A blue moon -- for all the children and adults out of the know -- is the second appearance of a full moon in the same month, and it's rare.

How rare? It only happens once in a blue moon.

The last one was in 2001. The next one is Saturday night.

Because most months are 30 or 31 days, and full moons are separated by 29.5 days, a blue moon only happens about once every two and a half or three years, said Wayne Harris-Wyrick, director and staff astronomer at the Kirkpatrick Planetarium at the Omniplex in Oklahoma City.

The National Weather Service says no one in the Tulsa area should have any problem seeing the moon Saturday night. Skies should be clear and temperatures should be in the 70s.

Although it is called a blue moon, don't expect to see a blue orb in the sky Saturday.

"It doesn't have anything to do with the color of the moon," Harris-Wyrick said. "It has to do with the rarity of it."

At least, that's what the experts say.

Back at the YWCA, Jessica Smith, 6, had a pretty good explanation that brought color back into the picture.

"The sky is really dark, dark blue, so it makes (the moon) blue," Jessica said.

Shelby adds that whatever a blue moon is, she's seen one.

"I saw a blue moon and a rainbow moon and a lello moon," Shelby declared.

Her answer sent her classmates into a fit of laughter.

"Lello!" shrieked Taytum Crockett, 5. She threw her head back, tittering. "Lello?"

To Anna Fitzgerald, 6, a blue moon means it's nighttime. Or something the fairies can fluff their pillows and blankets with.

"I think a blue moon means when the clouds block the moon, and it gets really dark, and some people kind of like blue moons," said Charlie Messner, 6.

Only the oldest child in the bunch, Laura Christian, 7, knew a blue moon was a full moon.

"My mom always tells me a full moon comes out every month, and it goes from a full moon and then it disappears one sliver each night, and then it grows back to a full moon," Laura explained patiently.

When Cristy Roberts, YWCA director of child and youth development, explained the phenomenon of a blue moon to the children, they seemed disappointed that it wasn't anything mystical, special or even blue.

Maybe it would be more exciting if it were something fairies could fluff their pillows with.

Kendal Kelly 581-8413

kendal.kelly@tulsaworld.com

More News in this Category