I thought 2 December 2009 would be the last full moon for 2009. Technically, the twelfth month of 2009 had two full moons. This is known as a Blue Moon.
The modern definition of a Blue Moon is "the second full moon in a calendar month"1. There is an older definition, which calls a Blue Moon "as an extra full moon that occur[s] in a season; one season was normally three full moons."2 But of course, this refers to the parts of the planet which have four seasons. The old definition will not sit well in tropical countries, which do not measure time in four seasons, and the onslaught of global warming might soon affect the planet's seasons anyway. So I go for the modern definition.
A Blue Moon is a rare event. This is experienced usually after approximately 31 months. The last modern Blue Moon before this one occurred in 31 May 2007 (31 months ago)3, and the next modern Blue Moon will occur in 31 Aug 2012 (32 months from now)4.
Last night was also a New Year Full Moon. As I mentioned in my earlier post about the Full Moon, the "full moon lasts for three nights. The fullest full moon is on the second night."5 It is thus rare for any of the three nights of the Full Moon to fall on the last night of the year. The last night of the year 2001, for instance, was the third night of the Full Moon6. The last night on the year I was born (1979) was lit by the first night of the Full Moon7. The last night of 2009 was a Full Moon at its peak, or the second night. Although this in itself is a rare occurrence, this actually only becomes special for societies which do not have a lunar-based calendar, like the Westerners, which follow the Gregorian calendar.
And finally, last night was also a partial Lunar Eclipse. It wasn't enough to cover the moon in a distinct shadow, but still, you could really see the spot on the lower left of the Moon's face where the Earth's shadow eats at the corner, creating an unmistakable chip. Again, I do not need to stress that a Lunar Eclipse, no matter how partial, is a rarity.
Now, for all three events (the Blue Moon, the New Year Full Moon, and the Lunar Eclipse) to happen individually is quite rare. But all three events happening at the same time--highly improbable. Therefore, last night's Full Moon should be read as an omen.
The Blue Moon: Signifies doubling. Being the second Full Moon of a calendar month, the Blue Moon acts like a mathematical exponent, raising something to the second power.
The New Year Full Moon: Signifies bounty, or fullness. A New Year Full Moon heralds good fortune and bounty for the incoming year.
The Lunar Eclipse: Signifies specialty, or added value. It adds flourish, sort of like an autographed hardbound edition of your favorite book, or your favorite song as an encore at a concert of your favorite band. In workers' terms, it is a bonus. A huge, hefty bonus.
Therefore: The Year of Our Lord, Common Era, two thousand and ten, will be a year of bounty and good fortune, filled with bonuses (or is it boni?), multiplied by the power of two. And I'm sure most of you felt this in the air last night.
And if you still doubt how special last night was, read this story.8
*pic from iomastronomy.org
1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_moon
2 Ibid.
3 http://www.celestialtimings.com/articles/blue-moon.html
4 Ibid.
5 http://thesorcerersstoned.blogspot.com/2008/04/full-moon.html
6 http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/astronomy.html?n=145&month=12&year=2001&obj=moon&afl=-11&day=1
7 http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon/index.php?month=12&year=1979&css=moon.css&Submit=Go
8 http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/partiallunareclipseandbluemoonnewyearseve
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