Blue Moon: The songs, books and films inspired by the natural phenomenon

August marks a particular month for lunar lovers, with not one, however two supermoons because of seem.

This phenomenon signifies that folks will be capable of see an ultra-rare blue moon, which happens when a second full moon seems in a calendar month.

The lunar cycle takes roughly 29.5 days, so the incidence of two full moons in a month is a phenomenon that solely occurs as soon as each 32 months. There will likely be round seven blue moons as soon as each 19 years.

August’s blue moons are much more uncommon, nonetheless, as each full moons are supermoons.

This separate phenomenon takes place when a full moon is close to its closest level to Earth, making it seem as much as 14 per cent greater and 30 per cent brighter than when it’s furthest away.

The first will likely be seen on Tuesday (1 August) night, whereas the second comes on the night time of Wednesday 30 August.

The use of the blue moon in widespread language normally is available in the type of the phrase “as soon as in a blue moon”, to reference an occasion that not often happens.

Whereas this that means stems from the nineteenth century, in the centuries earlier than, the blue moon held a special that means.

Some folks had believed that the moon was truly blue, with the first use in the English language coming from Henry VIII’s advisor Cardinal Wolsey.

Criticising the intelligence of his opponents, Wolsey stated that they “would have you ever consider the moon is blue”.

In addition to giving its identify to a Belgian beer served with a slice of orange, the elusive blue moon has featured throughout popular culture over the years.

The hottest music with the phenomenon in the title is 1934’s “Blue Moon”, which was written by Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart. The music turned an ordinary, and was carried out by legendary artists together with Frank Sinatra, Billie Vacation and Elvis Presley.

It’s also carried out by the cowl group Sha-Na-Na in the 1978 film musical Grease, bringing a double entendre to the title for a scene during which the T-Birds “moon” (expose their naked buttocks in the direction of) the digital camera at Rydell Excessive’s televised dance.

As well as, the music serves as the anthem for soccer membership Manchester Metropolis, who play in blue.

Elsewhere in music, the phenomenon has given identify to an EP by Noel Gallagher’s Excessive Flying Birds (2020’s Blue Moon Rising).

On the display screen, Rita Moreno starred in 2000 in a critically panned romcom known as Blue Moon, whereas a Romanian psychological thriller of the similar identify was launched in 2021.

The blue moon additionally gave its title to a 2019 e book in Lee Youngster’s Jack Reacher motion collection, the twenty fourth in the collection and final to be written by Youngster alone.