A rare series of “Black Moons”:
The January 31, 2022 Black Moon in parts of North America ushered in a rare sequence of three Black Moons in three months: two months with two New Moons each (January and March) and no new Moon in February. The New Moons on January 31 and March 31 are both Black Moons.

Stock photo courtesy of LunaPic

The solar eclipse today is caused by a New Moon that is directly in the shadow of the Earth. Usually they are considered “invisible” except in cases where there is an eclipse. The “Black Moon” is the counterpart of a “Blue Moon”, and has the same three conditions happen in order to cause either of a “Black Moon” or a “Blue Moon”. This is a special event this year as it is the third existence in a row of a “Black Moon” event, and this only happens every 19 years, because the February is a short month–short enough to have no New Moon in it at all. It only happens when January 31^st to March 2^nd are the New Moon. “Black Moons” and “Blue Moons” happen for these three reasons:

1. The same month has a second New or Full Moon: The most common reason a “Black Moon” or a “Blue Moon” happen, because they occur about once every 29 months. Because the New or Full Moon can happen on a midnight overlap, and time zone differential, the month they happen in can vary. This year, Los Angeles celebrated a “Black Moon” in the month of March, while New York had its “Black Moon” in April.
2. The season has four New or Full Moons: These “Black Moons” and “Blue Moons” occur in a rarer existence, only once every 33 months. Within the four seasons of spring, summer, fall (autumn), and winter–each season usually has three New or Full Moon. When a season has four New or Full Moon, the third New or Full Moon in that season is also called a “Black Moon” or “Blue Moon”.
3. February has no New or Full Moons: About once every 19 years, there is no New Moon in the month of February. This can only happen in  the month of February, as February is the only month which is shorter than a lunar month. When this happens, both months of January and March have two New or Full Moon, instead of just one. Again, because of time zone differences, these type of “Black Moon” or “Blue Moon” may not happen all over the world. This year, such a “Black Moon” existed in the most western parts of the US in February 2022, but did not in Europe to Australia.  The next “Black Moon” by this definition will occur in 2033, while the last one was in 2014.

General information on the Moons, “Black Moons” and “Blue Moons”, please visit NASA at:

Stock photo courtesy of LunaPic

☺☻┌༼▀̿̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿༽┘🌑 BLACK MOON! ☺☻┌༼▀̿̿Ĺ̯̿̿▀̿༽┘🌑