by Anura Guruge
on April 30, 2022
‘Blue Moon‘ can mean one of two things:
1. Second full moon within the same calendar month.
2. Third full moon during an astronomical season that has four full moons; an astronomical season in this context being the 3-month period between an equinox and a solstice, e.g., 3-months between the March Spring Equinox and the June Summer Solstice.
‘Black Moon‘, DITTO, but when it applies to a NEW MOON.
So, it means:
1. Second NEW moon within the same calendar month — as is the case this month, i.e., April 2022.
2. Third NEW moon during an astronomical season that has four full moons; an astronomical season in this context being the 3-month period between an equinox and a solstice, e.g., 3-months between the March Spring Equinox and the June Summer Solstice.
So, as you can see from the 2nd image above we have TWO NEW MOONS in the month of April 2022. Hence, why that of April 30 (i.e., today) is a BLACK MOON.
The last time we had a Black Moon on the East Coast of U.S. was in July 2019.
[With Blue/Black Moons you need to be specific of the location because time zones can SOMETIMES play a part, e.g., a Blue/Black Moon on the West Coast but not the East!]
Black Moons occur, on average, every 29-months, i.e., roughly every 2.5 years. So, today’s black moon is on schedule.
