![]() ![]() For those in the Middle East, Asia, eastern Russia, Australia and New Zealand, the “super blue blood moon” will be visible during moonrise on the evening of January 31.Īs long as the weather doesn’t try to ruin things, observers in Alaska, Australia, eastern Asia and Hawaii will be experience the whole phenomenon from start to finish.įor those living in the US, NASA says the best spots to watch the entire celestial show will be in California and western Canada. Although it does not have a scientific definition, a “blood moon” occurs during a lunar eclipse when faint red sunbeams peek out around the edges of the Earth, giving it a reddish, copper color.Įager stargazers living in North America, Alaska or Hawaii will be able to see the eclipse before sunrise on Wednesday, according to NASA. Then completing this “lunar trifecta” is the “blood” element. The first supermoon of 2018 – which took place on New Year’s Day – was previously described by NASA as the “biggest and brightest” one expected for the entire year. The result: the moon appears larger than normal and NASA is predicting this one will be 14% brighter than usual.Ĭhances are you have used the phrase “once in a blue moon” – but have you ever wondered where it came from? The well-known idiom actually refers to the rare instance when there is a second full moon in a calendar month. So, a “supermoon” is when a full moon occurs at the same time as its perigee, the closest point of the moon’s orbit with Earth. It may sound like the apocalypse is nigh, so let’s break it down by its three parts: “super,” “blue” and “blood.” To prepare you for the lunar triple whammy, here’s your all-you-need-to-know guide. The pre-dawn hours of January 31 will play host to an incredibly rare celestial convergence – a “super blue blood moon.” There are other kinds of moons that appear at different times.Set your alarms, space fans – if you can drag yourself out of bed on Wednesday, you’re in for a treat. Weather experts advise people living in areas near shorelines to be aware of this, especially during storm activity. While the blue supermoon brings the possibility for watching and taking beautiful pictures, its stronger gravitational pull also can influence higher tides. For example, this can happen as a result of smoke or dust particles in the atmosphere. This is what makes it possible to see one full moon at the start of the month and another one right at the end.Īstronomers say, however, that the moon can look blue under the right conditions. NASA says the moon takes 27.3 days to orbit Earth, but it takes 29.5 days to complete a full moon cycle. Instead, the name means it is the second full moon to happen within one month or the fourth to take place in a season. This is because of a traditionally large increase in fish in the American Great Lakes area during the month of August.Īlthough it is called a blue moon, it does not appear blue in color. The Old Farmer’s Almanac notes that the August full moon is known as the sturgeon moon. Basil's Cathedral, right, as people walk in Red Square in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Aug. The August Super Blue Moon sets behind a historical building and the St. Astronomers say a supermoon can appear about 14 percent larger and a bit brighter than other moons. “Warm summer nights are the ideal time to watch the full moon rise in the eastern sky within minutes of sunset,” said retired NASA astrophysicist and moon expert Fred Espenak.įull moons happen at the exact moment when the moon is opposite the sun, NASA says. But he advised that, as long as the weather was good, world observers looking to the sky would not need any special equipment to see the moons. ![]() Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, creator of the Virtual Telescope Project, held an online watch event as the blue supermoon was setting below the skyline of Rome. Saturn appeared as a bright “star” to the upper right of the blue moon. NASA noted that when the blue moon arrived, the planet Saturn was just a few days from its closest and brightest appearance of the year from Earth. The first supermoon arrived on the first day of August, while the blue moon was seen beginning August 30. A blue supermoon rises between the Salesforce Tower and the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco, Wednesday, Aug. ![]()
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