![]() ![]() The 31 January, 2018 lunar event was called 'Trifecta'. As this supermoon was also a blue moon (the second full moon in a calendar month), it was referred to as a " super blue blood moon" "blood" refers to the typical red color of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. A blue moon occurs because there are 2 full moons in the same calendar month, or if there are 4 full moons in the same season (third of four is blue moon). ĭuring the total lunar eclipse of Wednesday, 31 January 2018, the Moon was 360,202 km (only 202 km to be a Super Full Moon) (223,819 mi) from the Earth. The previous supermoon lunar eclipse was in September 2015. The Moon was near its perigee on 30 January and as such may be described as a " supermoon", when the Moon's distance from the Earth is less than 360,000 km (223,694 miles). Kellie Hwang is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.A total lunar eclipse occurred on 31 January 2018. Want to join fellow stargazers? Chabot Space & Science Center is hosting aįrom 11:30 p.m. “Eclipse after eclipse, they saw that the Earth cast a round shadow, and deduced that we lived on a ball-shaped planet (long before we had pictures of it from space).” “The round shape of the Earth’s shadow during such eclipses suggested to the ancient Greeks - more than 2,000 years ago - that the Earth’s shape must be round like a ball,” he writes. If your kids are joining in the viewing party, Fraknoi suggests telling them to “take a careful look at the shadow of the Earth as it moves across the bright face of the moon,” and asking them what shape it is. He added that viewing a lunar eclipse doesn’t require going to a dark location. ![]() On the West Coast, stargazers will “see all parts of the eclipse in the sky,” and the total eclipse lasts an “impressive” hour and 25 minutes, Fraknoi said. That also means no special equipment is needed, though McKeegan said binoculars or a small telescope can be used to “see the subtle fading of the moon’s surface as it moves into the fainter penumbral shadow.” But once entering the umbra, the blood moon will be quite obvious. As Geoff Mathews, astronomy instructor at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills, put it: “Lunar eclipses are the most democratic of astronomical events, visible from anyplace that can see the moon at that time.” Other prime spots include Australia and southeast Asia.Ī week in advance, the Bay Area forecast was looking dodgy, according to newsroom meteorologist Gerry Díaz, with a low-pressure system potentially bringing clouds to the region.īut if skies are clear, that’s the only requirement to view the eclipse - all you have to do is look up. West Coast is one of theĪt the midpoint of the eclipse. But the Bay Area is particularly fortunate this time around: Weather permitting, the U.S. Only on the night side of Earth, which varies from event to event. “Once the Moon is eclipsed, the stars in the sky should become easier to see.” “The exact color of the glow and its darkness depend in part on the ‘sooty-ness’ of our atmosphere - how recently volcanoes have erupted, plus how much cloud cover, storm activity, fire smoke, and human pollution there is around the globe,” he said. The moon can appear anywhere from a reddish glow to a dull brown,Īccording to an FAQ by Andrew Fraknoi, emeritus chair of the Foothill College astronomy department in Los Altos Hills. 5:56 a.m.: The moon exits the penumbra near the western horizon just before dawn.3:41 a.m.: The moon begins to emerge from the umbra.2:17 a.m.: The moon is fully immersed in the umbral shadow, and remains there for more than an hour.1:09 a.m.: The moon begins to enter the umbra, and a dark red shadow creeps across the moon’s face.12:02 a.m.: The moon starts to slightly fade as it enters the penumbral shadow.Here is the timeline of the eclipse early Tuesday, according to McKeegan: “The reddish color of the umbra is caused by refraction of sunlight through the Earth’s atmosphere, much like the reddening of the sky we see at sunset,” McKeegan wrote in an email. orange and red - make it through, giving the moon a bloody rust-red color. The colors with shorter wavelengths, blue and violet, scatter away, but The umbra occurs when the Earth is directly between the sun and the moon, blocking the sun entirely, with only a bit of light from the Earth’s atmosphere reaching the moon’s surface. ![]() ![]() The blood moon nickname comes from one of the two concentric shadows produced by the Earth: the outer faint shadow, called the penumbra, and the inner shadow, known as the umbra. ![]()
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