Patterico's Pontifications

7/31/2019

Black Moon Tonight

Filed under: General — DRJ @ 3:58 pm



[Headline from DRJ]

There will be a Black Moon tonight in the Western Hemisphere. Space.com explains What It Is (and Why You Can’t See It):

While a full moon refers to the moment when the moon’s Earth-facing side is fully illuminated by sunlight, a new moon refers to the moment when the moon’s Earth-facing side is fully in shadow. (Unfortunately, that means the Black Moon will be more or less invisible, even if the moon is high in the sky).

The lunar calendar almost lines up with Earth’s calendar year, so there is typically one full moon and one new moon each month. A second full moon in a single calendar month is sometimes called a “Blue Moon.” A Black Moon is supposedly the flip side of a Blue Moon: the second new moon in a single calendar month. The next Black Moon takes place on July 31 (in the Western Hemisphere).

The Black Moon is a somewhat unusual celestial event — they occur about once every 32 months, and they sometimes only occur in certain time zones. From most of the Western Hemisphere, the new moon occurring on Wednesday, July 31 is a Black Moon. Officially, it occurs at 11:13 p.m. EDT (0313 GMT on Aug. 1).

This has nothing to do with the Democratic debate, which is also tonight. Or does it?

H/T mg.

— DRJ

20 Responses to “Black Moon Tonight”

  1. Unfortunately, that means the Black Moon will be more or less invisible, even if the moon is high in the sky

    More to the point, it’s only about one degree (twice the width of the moon itself) away from the Sun.

    Dave (1bb933)

  2. The mists are lifting.
    I see …
    I see …
    I see …
    A dark psychic force enveloping America.
    I see …
    I see …
    I see …
    Sheila Jackson Lee in a string bikini.

    nk (dbc370)

  3. Imagine the mystical powers that Marianne Williamson would bring to bear if she were on the debate stage tonight. Lucky for Slow Joe and Intersectionality Bingo that she is not.

    JVW (54fd0b)

  4. JVW (54fd0b) — 7/31/2019 @ 4:17 pm

    Instead, maybe Spartacus will honor the moon by dropping trou and telling Biden to kiss his black @ss?

    Dave (1bb933)

  5. 12 lunar months is about 354 days – 11 days short of a 365 1/4 day year.

    Sometimes I think you can have more than one of these things in a year, like in Jnauary and March.

    Sammy Finkelman (7cd5f4)

  6. The only reason this one occurred is because August is one of the two 31-day months preceded by a 31-day month. But people will always look for ersatz wonders.

    nk (dbc370)

  7. Don’t try to make sense of my last comment, I don’t understand it either.

    nk (dbc370)

  8. next black moon july 31 2019

    mg (8cbc69)

  9. 86-8
    The next black moon 2-3 years.

    mg (8cbc69)

  10. You too, mg? There must be something to the thing after all.

    nk (dbc370)

  11. One of my favorite dumb Facebook posts that used to rear its ugly head was the one that would say “This month is special because it has five Fridays, five Saturdays, and five Sundays. This won’t happen again until the year 2237” or something equally dumb. People would just post it as if it were this amazing and true phenomenon until I think finally everyone was at last taught how a 31-day month is different from a 30-day month.

    Back in the olden days, that was the sort of debunking for which Snopes was actually useful, before they decided to become an arm of the DNC.

    JVW (54fd0b)

  12. Does Ms Lee wax and wane

    steveg (354706)

  13. Nobody gets paid enough for that

    steveg (354706)

  14. You are clearly a racist, Patterico.

    Bored Lawyer (998177)

  15. I prefer yellow… https://youtu.be/ZlVxx3HVW24

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  16. “This month is special because it has five Fridays, five Saturdays, and five Sundays.

    The last time that happened was in March, and the previous time it happened was in December, 2016.

    The next time it will happen in in May, 2020.

    Sammy Finkelman (7cd5f4)

  17. So damn good, Col.

    mg (8cbc69)

  18. Yep and one of the bros just died…

    Colonel Haiku (2601c0)

  19. love that funk.

    mg (8cbc69)


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