You've heard nerds like me chatting excitedly about it for a couple weeks now, but what exactly is a "Super Blue Moon Eclipse"? Well it's three interesting lunar events happening at the same time. A supermoon, a blue moon and a lunar eclipse visible over North America on January 31.
Let's start with the supermoon. The moon's orbit has a window called perigee every year where it is much closer to the Earth than the rest of it's track throughout the year. This makes it appear larger and brighter than usual, and this is obviously most impressive when it is 100% full. We had a supermoon in December and another on January 1. The third in this series will happen on January 31.
So then what is a Blue Moon? Well that's simply when we get a second full moon in one month. It doesn't actually appear blue, and it's not that rare. You may have heard the phrase "once in a blue moon" which is used as the equivalent as a once in a generation or lifetime opportunity, but we actually get a blue moon every year or two. As you can see in this Moon Giant calendar, we'll have another blue moon in March of this year!
And on January 31 there will be an eclipse too. Didn't we just have an eclipse? Well yes, we had an impressive total solar eclipse a few months ago, where the moon passed between the Earth and the sun, creating a shadow over the United States. What is happening this time is a lunar eclipse, were the Earth will pass between the sun and the moon, creating a shadow over the moon that will make it appear red.
So scientists are excited about this because all three lunar events happening at once is quite rare, but when you're watching it from home, it's just a big moon called a blue moon that will actually appear red that morning!
And here in California we'll have a great view, as long as our clouds clear! NASA says "Californians and viewers in western Canada will be treated to the total eclipse phase from start to finish, though the penumbral shadow will pass after the Moon has set. The umbral eclipse begins at 3:48 a.m. Pacific Time. At 4:51 a.m., totality will begin, with best viewing between about 5:00 and 6:00 a.m. local time. The totality phase ends about 6:05 a.m." Timeanddate.com says the time of max totality when the moon is completely covered and red will be at 5:29 a.m.
Taking out the blue moon part, NASA says the last time we saw a supermoon lunar eclipse was in 1985, and the next one will be in 2033. Interestingly in contrast to that report, NASA reports here that we'll have another lunar eclipse next January, and that will also be a supermoon, but it's only visible for the other half of the world, so perhaps that why that one "doesn't count" for us here in the states.
Still want to learn more? Here's one of my favorite sites EarthSky.org with a good explanation of what we can expect across North America for this event.
Find me online and let me know if you'll be watching this rare lunar event!
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