Science Pop | ORIENT. On the night of May 31, 2026, Earth's inhabitants observed an astronomical phenomenon dubbed the "Blue Moon" in the press and popular science blogs. A radiant disk illuminated the sky above the planet, but contrary to the expectations of many romantics, our celestial satellite did not turn azure, retaining its familiar, noble silvery appearance. Astronomers can only smile knowingly, as this phenomenon combines the strict mathematics of the Earth's calendar, the peculiarities of our atmosphere, and ancient folklore, which has given rise to dozens of "colored" and "animal" names for the night luminary.

In fact, the mysterious "Blue Moon" is a pure calendar anomaly. The lunar cycle lasts approximately 29.5 days, slightly shorter than a standard Earth month. Because of this slight difference, approximately every two and a half years our calendar experiences an extra thirteenth full moon. When two full moons occur in a single calendar month, as happened this past May, the second one automatically receives the status of "blue moon."

The rarity of this event even gave the English-speaking world the famous idiom "Once in a Blue Moon," which serves as a counterpart to our expression "after a little rain on Thursday." NASA experts confirm that the Moon can physically turn blue or greenish only in the rarest cases of large-scale cataclysms, when, following the eruptions of giant volcanoes or forest fires, the upper layers of the atmosphere become clogged with microparticles that act as a light filter, allowing only blue light to reach our eyes.

Today, many other intriguing names can be found in the media—from Blood Moon and Pink Moon to Strawberry Moon and Wolf Moon. Science popularizers divide these concepts into two completely different categories, where some terms are based on real physics, while others are pure poetry.

For example, a Supermoon truly exists as a physical fact when the full moon coincides with perigee, the moon's closest approach to Earth, causing its disk to appear a third brighter than usual. Similarly, the frightening Blood Moon, which rises during total lunar eclipses when the Earth blocks the sun and our atmosphere, like a giant lens, allows only long rays of the red spectrum to reach the moon, tinting it crimson, is absolutely real.

Meanwhile, all the other "delicious" names for lunations have nothing to do with physics or with the change in the actual color of a celestial body. Modern media borrowed them from the ancient farmers' almanacs of North American Indians, which served as a substitute for the traditional calendar for ancient tribes.

They named each full moon of the year after seasonal changes in nature or stages of agriculture. The January full moon was called the Wolf Moon because of the howling of hungry packs around their campsites; the March full moon was called the Worm Moon, when the soil thawed; and the June full moon was called the Strawberry Moon simply because it was wild strawberry harvest time. The Pink Moon in April also shines with a simple silver glow, merely reminding us of the blooming of the first wild phlox.

This beautiful ethnographic folklore is actively used in journalism today, helping to captivate readers with the mysteries of the cosmos and once again reminding them of the complex, harmonious, and poetic laws by which our universe is structured.