The moon is about to do something it hasn't done in more than 150 years

[Linville]

The moon is about to do something it hasn't done in more than 150 years
[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098)]
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[color=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.65098)]This is a composite image of the lunar nearside taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in June 2009, note the presence of dark areas of maria on this side of the moon. Credit: NASA[/color]


Call it whatever you like—a blue red moon, a purple moon, a blood moon—but the moon will be a special sight on Jan. 31.

Three separate celestial events will occur simultaneously that night, resulting in what some are calling a super blue blood moon eclipse. The astronomical rarity hasn’t happened for more than 150 years.

A super moon, like the one visible on New Year’s Day, is the term for when a full moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit, appearing bigger and brighter than normal.

On Jan. 31, the moon will be full for the second time in a month, a rare occasion—it happens once every two and a half years—known as a blue moon.

To top it off, there will also be a total lunar eclipse. But unlike last year's solar eclipse, this sky-watching event isn't going to be as visible in the continental United States. The best views of the middle-of-the-night eclipse will be in central and eastern Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia, although Alaska and Hawaii will get a glimpse, too.

For the rest of the U.S., the eclipse will come too close to when the moon sets for the phenomenon to be visible.

Because of the way the light filters through the atmosphere during an eclipse, blue light is bounced away from the moon, while red light is reflected. The eclipsed moon’s reddish color earned it the nickname blood moon.

"We're seeing all of the Earth's sunrises and sunsets at that moment reflected from the surface of the Moon," Sarah Noble, a program scientist at NASA headquarters, said in a release.
Scientifically, Simpson said, the event is pretty meaningless. The moon's orbit is well studied and well understood by scientists. The real impact, she said, is how astronomical events like this get people interested in science.

“Anything that keeps people interested in science and makes them realize science is important is a good thing," she said.



©2018 Miami Herald 
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.

[Roses]

I'll be out there watching it......

Thanks for this Linville, I'm so interested in this type of story.

[IceWizard]

Wow... That is indeed very interesting Linville...

Thank YOU for posting this up ..

Ice

[Blockhead59]

Cool. I have missed almost every great moon event--last eclipse, wasn't in U.S., last time moon was closest to Earth, rainy, cloudy evening, and now this. I'm disappointed. But, I'll be watching the videos/pictures other people lucky enough to see it post online.

[Linville]

Triple treat: Supermoon, blue moon and lunar eclipse all coming to a sky near you next week
[color=var(--body-font-color)]Doyle RiceUpdated 1:01 p.m. ET Jan. 23, 2018[/color]
The full moon on January 31st will combine three rare lunar events for the first time in 150 years. USA TODAY
Skywatchers will get a rare triple treat Jan. 31: a supermoon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse.
How rare is the event? Even without the supermoon, it's the first blue moon total lunar eclipse in the U.S. since March 1866, less than a year after the Civil War ended, according to EarthSky.org.
A blue moon — which occurs about every 2½ years — is another term for the second full moon in a single calendar month. January's first full moon occurred Jan. 1. 
Though the exact moment of this full moon is 8:37 a.m. ET Jan. 31, the moon will appear plenty full for a day or two before and after that.
However, the moon doesn't actually appear blue.
As for the total lunar eclipse, it will be visible early in the morning of Jan. 31 from western North America across the Pacific to eastern Asia, NASA said.
In the United States, the best view of the eclipse will be along the West Coast. For skywatchers in the central and eastern U.S., only a partial eclipse will be visible since the moon will set before totality.
“The lunar eclipse on Jan. 31 will be visible during moonset," said Noah Petro, a research scientist from NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. "Folks in the eastern United States, where the eclipse will be partial, will have to get up in the morning to see it."
The eclipse will last almost 3½ hours from the beginning of the partial phase at 3:48 a.m. PT until it ends at 7:12 a.m. PT, according to Sky and Telescope. Totality lasts a generous 77 minutes, from 4:51 a.m. PT to 6:08 a.m. PT.
By that time, however, the moon will already have set in the eastern time zone.

The full moon will take on a dark, reddish appearance during the eclipse, so another phrase used to describe it is a blood moon. Adding to the naming confusion, this full moon was also known as the "snow moon" by some Native American tribes.
Finally, a supermoon occurs when the full moon is at the closest point of its orbit to the Earth, which is also called the perigee. 
That makes the moon look extra-close and extra bright — up to 14% bigger and 30% brighter than a full moon at its farthest point from Earth, known as the apogee, NASA said.
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[Sudsy]

Thanks for posting Linville very interesting.

Sudsy

[Justice1]

Wow ,im excited,thanks for posting the info.as I love these kind of things.Our world is really quite cool.I have a mental health exam for SSDI on the 30th,,and thinking of this will distract me and give me something cool to ponder about ..lol

[Linville]

I can look oiut the window right now and see the moon gaining fullness, oh this is going to be a nice sight on the 31st

[Linville]

Dont forget all Full Moon Lovers.

Watch the night skies.....

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[Charon]

amazing. thank u for alerting us.