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Blue Moon is all set to grace the sky on October 31: When can it be seen in India

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New Delhi, Oct 29: A Blue Moon will shine bright in the night sky, on October 31 around 8.19 PM. This is the second Full Moon this month and will be a rare occurrence.

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Usually during the monthly lunar phenomenon, every month has one full moon and a new moon. However, this October is a special occasion when the same month gets two full moons.

Blue Moon is all set to grace the sky on October 31: When can it be seen in India

The month of October saw the occurrence of the first full moon around October 1 and October 2 and the next full moon falls on October 31.

What is a Blue moon?

The term Blue Moon is a calendrical term. When there are two full moons in a month, the second full moon is called the Blue Moon. To have a Blue Moon in a month of 30 days, is not common. The blue moon occurs as the Earth's elliptical makes the smallest angle with respect to the horizon while eventually making the Moon appearing to be glowing and illuminating at its fullest.

This Blue Moon is also called the Hunter's Moon as it provides plenty of moonlight for hunters to collect meat for the winters.

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When does a blue moon occur?

The reason behind this phenomenon is that the lunar month has a duration of 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes and 38 seconds. In such case, to have two full moons in a month, the first full moon should take place on 1st or 2nd of the month. This extra time accumulates over the months. It is believed that after 30 months there will be one extra full moon in the year.

According to the scientists it is also not possible to have a full moon in February as it has 28 days, and 29 days during a leap year.

Blue moon occurrences

The last time when Blue Moon occured in a month with 30 days was on June 30, 2007 and the next one is expected to happen on September 30, 2050.

Also, there were two Blue Moons in 2018. The first blue moon was on January 31 and the second Blue Moon followed on March 31, as the preceding month February had only 28 days.

Skygazers will be able to get the next Blue Moon on August 31, 2023. The occurance is largely restricted to the Gregoria calendar which is being used worldwide.

One will not see this phenomenon of two full moons in a month in large parts of India as they are based on lunar movements. Those following Islamic or Tibetan calendars will also be not able to see the rare occurance.

The phrase 'Once in a Blue Moon', aptly, came from this phenomenon.

When will it be visible in India?

The Blue moon, a fairly infrequent phenomenon will occur on October 31 at 8.19 pm. People from both North America and South America will see it as will Africa, all of Europe and much of Asia.

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