Full Moon Schedule With Blue Moons
The full moon schedule below includes the dates of full moons.
The Full Moon / Blue Moon Chart below doesn't include New Moons, so here's a simple way to figure out what date a new moon falls on:
Since Lunar Cycles start and end with a new moon and are 29.53 days long and, since Full Moons occur half way through one complete lunar cycle, the time between a full moon and a new moon is 14.765 days.
So, to calculate when the next new moon will occur; look at the date of the nearest full moon and count up 15 days from this date. This will be the next new moon. For instance, if the nearest full moon was August 13, 2011, the next new moon would occur 15 days later or on August 28, 2011.
Moon Phases and the Terms that Describe Them
There are some terms about moon cycles that are confusing. Here are a couple of these terms with their explanations.
A quarter moon looks to us like a half moon and so, a quarter moon is often referred to incorrectly, as a half moon. In a complete moon cycle, there are two quarter moons. One when the cycle is half way between a new moon and a full moon in the waxing, or getting fuller stage, and another when it is half way between a full moon and a new moon in the waning, or getting smaller stage. The quarter moons are said to be so because they occur at the one quarter and three quarter points of the moon cycle.
When the moon looks to be about one quarter its size, instead of actually being a quarter moon, it is said to be a crescent moon.
Blue Moons
Because moon cycles are shorter than all the months except February, sometimes a month will have two full moons. When it does, the second full moon of the month is said to be a Blue Moon. Technically, it is a calendar blue moon. In some years, like 1999, there are no full moons in February and calendar blue moons in both January and March. This makes calendar blue moons too common an event to be considered happening only "once in a blue moon."
The Farmer's Almanac defines a blue moon as the third full moon in a season that has four full moons. This is the original definition and by using it there can be no more than one blue moon in any year. Calendardaze uses this definition and has marked the Blue moons as so defined in blue in the chart below. Note that some years, such as in 2001, a calendar blue moon and a Farmer's Almanac Blue Moon are the same thing.
Also note that occasionally full moons occur on different days in different time zones. The full moon schedule below uses Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) and it is very accurate. Still, even though it is rare, some full moons may occur on different days in your area. |
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