Night Sky Photography -- 05-19-2019 -- 2019 Seasonal Blue Flower Moon & Jupiter

Good evening from upstate South Carolina, my fellow skywatchers! 

This evening, yours truly stayed up really later -- over an hour after midnight in point of fact! -- to capture a really outstanding set of images showing the Seasonal Blue Moon of 2019, along with the giant planet Jupiter close by. 

I captured these shots of the May full moon -- the Flower Moon --  near some large power lines in the foreground, including a close up of both Jupiter and the full moon. 

Now for all of y'all who are familiar with the normal term "Blue Moon" y'all know that the moon does not turn blue in point of fact. By normal term, I refer to the classic definition of a Blue Moon: the second full moon of a calendar month. Since a lunar cycle (or the time from a new moon, to a full moon, and back) lasts about 29.5 days, and most months have 30 or 31 days, inevitably there will be overlap, with the occasional calendar month including two full moons.

This is the definition that most of us are the most familiar with from the old expression, “Once in a blue moon,” which refers to the fact that this rare occurrence usually only happens every two to three years (though two of them actually happened in January & March of 2018). 

Also this definition applies to the 13th full moon in a calendar year. Since 12 lunar months only have 354 days, some years will also have 13 full moons.

However, this evening's full moon is neither of those Blue Moons. 

A Seasonal Blue Moon refers to the third full moon in an astronomical season that has four full moons. 

An astronomical season is divided by the solstices and the equinoxes -- summer solstice beginning in June, winter solstice beginning in December, spring equinox beginning in March, and fall equinox beginning in September. An astronomical season includes three months, so it would normally encompass three full moons. But since our seasons are divided by a solar calendar and not a lunar calendar, there can sometimes be overlap between lunar cycles and astronomical seasons. When this happens, and there are four full moons in an astronomical season, the third one of these is called a Seasonal Blue Moon.

It's a good thing this blogger was awake to capture it this time around since the next Seasonal Blue Moon is not due again until August 22, 2021. 

By tomorrow evening, a beautiful nearly still full Luna will move closer to Jupiter -- at least from our relative perspective here on Earth.  

Well folks, I hope y'all enjoyed my photos once again. I am headed to bed. Have a good evening and remember to keep looking to the night skies, y'all!