Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Super Lunar Stuff

On Wednesday, January 31st, you will get a chance to see a Supermoon, a Blue Moon,  and a Lunar Eclipse all in one! The last time this happened was back in 1866.  Plenty to talk about so lets begin with what is  a "Supermoon".
  

Supermoon

As the moon orbits the earth, it does so in an oval orbit, with it being at times a little farther away from earth (this is known as the Apogee) and sometimes closer (this is known as the Perigee). This Wednesday the moon will reach the Perigee at 4:54 am, being roughly 223 thousand miles way from the earth, as opposed to over 252 thousand miles when its at its farthest point.



This closeness makes it a "Supermoon". It will appear 14% larger and be 30% brighter than average. This will be the last of three such occurrences with the second taking place back at the start of January.

Blue Moon

Over the years, the second full moon of the month has come to be known as a blue moon. This "Supermoon" is also a full moon, the second of January which makes it a "Blue Moon". It won't really be blue as particles in the atmosphere will make it glow more orange than normal. Because of this, the event is also known as a "Blood Moon". Many are calling this lunar spectacle a Super Blood Moon!


 Lunar Eclipse

The earth will cast its shadow on the moon at the same time this is all happening creating a Lunar Eclipse.
Unfortunately, the eclipse will happen for us after sunrise and it will not be visible. This map courtesy of Spaceweather.
 



This is another map courtesy of Spaceweather, detailing the different areas that will have good visibility for the Eclipse.



For more details on all the Lunar Activity got to this NASA site:
NASA's Spermoon and Eclipse Site


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