Fall 2020 has three ‘micromoons’, but the October 31 Full Moon is extra special.
It sounds like the start of a scary story, but on Halloween night, a Full Moon will rise, and it will be remarkable in a few different ways.
To start, this is the first Halloween Full Moon we’ve seen in 19 years. Technically, though, in 2001, while the Moon was considered full on the night of October 31, it didn’t actually reach its completely full phase until very early in the morning on November 1. To have a Halloween Full Moon timed the same as we are seeing this year, we have to go all the way back to 1944! The next Halloween Full Moon will be 19 years from now, in 2039.
Halloween Full Moons are seen in 1944, 2020 and 2039. Background image credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio.
Also, the October 31 Full Moon is a micromoon. We often hear about the supermoon, which is a Full Moon that is exceptionally close to Earth (closer than 361,500 km). A micromoon is a Full Moon that occurs when the Moon is exceptionally far from Earth (at least 405,000 km away).
In fact, this is the farthest Full Moon of the entire year, making it 2020’s ‘apogee’ Full Moon!
A comparison between the April 7 Perigee Full Moon and the October 31 Apogee Full Moon. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Scott Sutherland
Visit our Complete Guide to Fall 2020 for an in depth look at the Fall Forecast, tips to plan for it and a sneak peek at the winter ahead
With the Harvest Moon having occurred on October 1, the October 31 Hunter’s Moon is the second Full Moon occurring in the same calendar month. By one definition, that makes it a Blue Moon!
So, it’s a Halloween Hunter’s Blue Micro Moon!
The October 31 Halloween Full Moon and its various possible names. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio/Scott Sutherland
The last ‘calendar’ Blue Moon was during the Super Blue Blood Moon total lunar eclipse, on January 31, 2018. The last time we had a Halloween Blue Moon, though, was in 1974, although just barely! The Moon was actually full on the night of October 30-31, but it officially reached its full phase after midnight on the 31st. We again have to go all the way back to 1944 for an actual Halloween Blue Moon.
The 2039 Halloween Full Moon will also be the next Halloween Blue Moon.
Related: See every view of the moon for 2020 in less than 5 minutes
IS A BLUE MOON ACTUALLY BLUE?
The Moon doesn’t actually appear blue on the night of a Blue Moon. It is just a saying, taken to mean “seldom” or “rare” since we don’t often see the Moon look blue.
Most often, when we see the Moon change colour, it’s either orange or red. This can be due to a lunar eclipse, when a Full Moon passes through Earth’s umbra – the darkest part of the planet’s shadow. The umbra is tinged red because when sunlight passes through the atmosphere, the air molecules and the various dust, particles, water droplets and so on, scatter the shorter wavelengths of the light first. So, only the reds emerge out into space on the other side.
Watching a lunar eclipse from the surface of the Moon, the Earth would appear ringed in red, as sunlight filtered through the atmosphere. Credit: NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio
We can also see this kind of colour-change when there are smoke and ash particles in the air. In this case, the shorter wavelengths of the moonlight are quickly scattered, letting only the longer orange and red wavelengths pass unchanged.
Every once in awhile, though, we can see the Moon actually look blue, and it doesn’t necessarily have to be full for this to happen.
According to NASA, “The key to a blue Moon is having in the air lots of particles slightly wider than the wavelength of red light (0.7 micron) – and no other sizes present. This is rare, but volcanoes sometimes spit out such clouds, as do forest fires.”
As it happens, if there are a lot of ultrafine ash particles in the air (~1 micron), and these are the only particles present, the red wavelengths of light will be scattered first. Thus, since only the shorter wavelengths pass through unimpeded, it gives the Moon a blue tinge. There were reports of the Moon appearing blue for years following the 1883 Krakatoa eruption. They were also seen after Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, following the 1983 El Chichon eruption, and after the Mount Pinatubo eruption in 1991.
NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — The body of Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei — who died after being set on fire by her partner in Kenya — was received Friday by family and anti-femicide crusaders, ahead of her burial a day later.
Cheptegei’s family met with dozens of activists Friday who had marched to the Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital’s morgue in the western city of Eldoret while chanting anti-femicide slogans.
She is the fourth female athlete to have been killed by her partner in Kenya in yet another case of gender-based violence in recent years.
Viola Cheptoo, the founder of Tirop Angels – an organization that was formed in honor of athlete Agnes Tirop, who was stabbed to death in 2021, said stakeholders need to ensure this is the last death of an athlete due to gender-based violence.
“We are here to say that enough is enough, we are tired of burying our sisters due to GBV,” she said.
It was a somber mood at the morgue as athletes and family members viewed Cheptegei’s body which sustained 80% of burns after she was doused with gasoline by her partner Dickson Ndiema. Ndiema sustained 30% burns on his body and later succumbed.
Ndiema and Cheptegei were said to have quarreled over a piece of land that the athlete bought in Kenya, according to a report filed by the local chief.
Cheptegei competed in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics less than a month before the attack. She finished in 44th place.
Cheptegei’s father, Joseph, said that the body will make a brief stop at their home in the Endebess area before proceeding to Bukwo in eastern Uganda for a night vigil and burial on Saturday.
“We are in the final part of giving my daughter the last respect,” a visibly distraught Joseph said.
He told reporters last week that Ndiema was stalking and threatening Cheptegei and the family had informed police.
Four in 10 women or an estimated 41% of dating or married Kenyan women have experienced physical or sexual violence perpetrated by their current or most recent partner, according to the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey 2022.
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — A rare Bronze-Era jar accidentally smashed by a 4-year-old visiting a museum was back on display Wednesday after restoration experts were able to carefully piece the artifact back together.
Last month, a family from northern Israel was visiting the museum when their youngest son tipped over the jar, which smashed into pieces.
Alex Geller, the boy’s father, said his son — the youngest of three — is exceptionally curious, and that the moment he heard the crash, “please let that not be my child” was the first thought that raced through his head.
The jar has been on display at the Hecht Museum in Haifa for 35 years. It was one of the only containers of its size and from that period still complete when it was discovered.
The Bronze Age jar is one of many artifacts exhibited out in the open, part of the Hecht Museum’s vision of letting visitors explore history without glass barriers, said Inbal Rivlin, the director of the museum, which is associated with Haifa University in northern Israel.
It was likely used to hold wine or oil, and dates back to between 2200 and 1500 B.C.
Rivlin and the museum decided to turn the moment, which captured international attention, into a teaching moment, inviting the Geller family back for a special visit and hands-on activity to illustrate the restoration process.
Rivlin added that the incident provided a welcome distraction from the ongoing war in Gaza. “Well, he’s just a kid. So I think that somehow it touches the heart of the people in Israel and around the world,“ said Rivlin.
Roee Shafir, a restoration expert at the museum, said the repairs would be fairly simple, as the pieces were from a single, complete jar. Archaeologists often face the more daunting task of sifting through piles of shards from multiple objects and trying to piece them together.
Experts used 3D technology, hi-resolution videos, and special glue to painstakingly reconstruct the large jar.
Less than two weeks after it broke, the jar went back on display at the museum. The gluing process left small hairline cracks, and a few pieces are missing, but the jar’s impressive size remains.
The only noticeable difference in the exhibit was a new sign reading “please don’t touch.”
VICTORIA – The British Columbia government is partnering with a bear welfare group to reduce the number of bears being euthanized in the province.
Nicholas Scapillati, executive director of Grizzly Bear Foundation, said Monday that it comes after months-long discussions with the province on how to protect bears, with the goal to give the animals a “better and second chance at life in the wild.”
Scapillati said what’s exciting about the project is that the government is open to working with outside experts and the public.
“So, they’ll be working through Indigenous knowledge and scientific understanding, bringing in the latest techniques and training expertise from leading experts,” he said in an interview.
B.C. government data show conservation officers destroyed 603 black bears and 23 grizzly bears in 2023, while 154 black bears were killed by officers in the first six months of this year.
Scapillati said the group will publish a report with recommendations by next spring, while an independent oversight committee will be set up to review all bear encounters with conservation officers to provide advice to the government.
Environment Minister George Heyman said in a statement that they are looking for new ways to ensure conservation officers “have the trust of the communities they serve,” and the panel will make recommendations to enhance officer training and improve policies.
Lesley Fox, with the wildlife protection group The Fur-Bearers, said they’ve been calling for such a committee for decades.
“This move demonstrates the government is listening,” said Fox. “I suspect, because of the impending election, their listening skills are potentially a little sharper than they normally are.”
Fox said the partnership came from “a place of long frustration” as provincial conservation officers kill more than 500 black bears every year on average, and the public is “no longer tolerating this kind of approach.”
“I think that the conservation officer service and the B.C. government are aware they need to change, and certainly the public has been asking for it,” said Fox.
Fox said there’s a lot of optimism about the new partnership, but, as with any government, there will likely be a lot of red tape to get through.
“I think speed is going to be important, whether or not the committee has the ability to make change and make change relatively quickly without having to study an issue to death, ” said Fox.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 9, 2024.
