November 1, 2020
Negros Occidental, Philippines — At 10:49 p.m. of October 31, 2020, after 76 years, a Halloween Blue Moon witnessed around the world but is hidden and missed by some Filipinos due to Typhoon Rolly and localized thunderstorms
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) released news of October’s Blue Moon last September 28, 2020 along with the announcement of the Harvest Moon on October 1st. According to Lauren Lambert, a blog writer of NASA, this month’s Blue Moon was the first full Blue Hunter's Moon to appear on Halloween since 1944..
Carlo Bais, the current President of the University of St. La Salle's PreMed Society and a lover of Astronomy, shared his views regarding this event.
“According to NASA, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month… It actually happens every 2.5 years. What’s interesting with this year’s Blue Moon is that it is also a Halloween Full Moon that happens only every 19 years… This phenomenon can be seen only in certain time zones. But this year’s Halloween Blue Moon can be seen for all time zones on Earth.”, Bais said during his interview with Indelible News.
However, PAGASA DOST issued a weather forecast at 4:00 p.m., reporting that the eye of Typhoon Rolly was located 370 km East Northeast of Virac, Catanduanes and moving West Southwestward at 25 km/h. The weather conditions across Philippines were reported to be either stormy, rainy, and cloudy due to Typhoon Rolly and localized thunderstorms.
The rest of Visayas is forecasted to have cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms.
“This is the only chance we will be seeing this Halloween Blue Moon that happened 76 years ago and imagine the next one will be in the next 57 years. But we can’t do away with this natural calamity.”, Bais expressed his frustration with the timing of Typhoon Rolly to this year’s lunar event.
According to weather forecast, the possibility of witnessing the phenomenon is low in some areas of the country but Cherry Queen Sianosa, a staff writer of Indelible News, captured a photo of the Halloween Blue Moon when the skies cleared up in Silay.
The next Halloween Blue Moon will be on 2039, occurring only in specific time zones. The worldwide Blue Moon sighting phenomenon similar to this year, however, will be on 2077, which is 57 years from now, as reported by NASA.
Photo captured by Cherry Queen Sianosa
Know more about the authors:
Comments