Total lunar eclipse meets supermoon Sunday night
- by Carmen Reese
- in Science
- — Jan 18, 2019
The lunar eclipse is for everyone! The moon appears orange or red, the result of sunlight scattering off Earth's atmosphere.
Midwesterners and southerners should get a good look at the big, red moon.
All of which is to say that what you're getting is a SUPER BLOOD WOLF MOON, which sounds much cooler than "total lunar eclipse", just saying.
It begins with the partial phase around 10:34 p.m. EST Jan. 20. All you have to do is go outside and look up. Pacific Standard Time, reach totality between 8:41 and 9:44 p.m. and be over by 11:48 p.m. The eclipse will conclude just before 2 a.m.
A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Earth passes exactly between the Sun and the Moon creating a shadow which stops solar rays reaching the lunar surface.
If the skies are clear, the entire eclipse will be visible in North and South America, as well as Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and the French and Spanish coasts.
Total lunar eclipses offer some interesting perspective, astronomers say. It will be the first full moon of the year (a "wolf moon"). Day - off, so have no worries about staying up late howling at the SUPER BLOOD WOLF MOON. Earth's orbit around the moon is not perfectly round, so as it circles Earth it is sometimes closer and sometimes farther away, by a distance of about 26,000 miles. Hence, the "Super" portion of the moniker. The last supermoon/lunar eclipse occurred in 1982.
We get two to five supermoons every year, while the gap between blood moons is anywhere from six months to about three years. That light can also change based on dust, pollutants or other particles in Earth's atmosphere. It could also take on little to no color, he said. And yes, he said, the first full moon of the year was reportedly called a "wolf moon" by at least one Native American tribe. January's full moon was referred to as the Wolf Moon.
In recent years, a number of blood moons have captured global attention, causing some to speculate about a possible connection to prophecy and the End Times.
Edmontonians will have the chance to view the lunar eclipse in style Sunday evening while celebrating with space-themed activities at the Telus World of Science.
Sunday will mark the final time a lunar eclipse and a supermoon occur at the same time until May 2021.
