A
rare celestial treat will colour the skies on Januay 31,2018, when a
Blue Moon, a total lunar eclipse and a supermoon all rolled into one.
NASA has even dubbed the event a "Super Blue Blood Moon,"
as it will occur near when the moon is at its closest point to Earth,
a so-called "supermoon." There hasn’t been a triple
lineup like this since 1982 and the next won’t occur until 2037.
The
first event is a total lunar eclipse that happens on the morning of
Jan. 31. This eclipse will be special! The moon will be both "super"
and "blue," and if skies are clear, skywatchers in North
America will be able to see all or part of the eclipse.
Blue
Moon occur when two full moons happen in the same calendar month;
blood moon occur when the moon passes into Earth's shadow; and
supermoon happen when the moon's perigee — its closest approach to
Earth in a single orbit — coincides with a full moon. In this case,
the supermoon also happens to be the day of the lunar eclipse.
According to Space.com, best place to see it will be in central and
eastern Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia.
Blood
Moon:
During
a total lunar eclipse, though the Moon gets shadowed by the Earth,
sunlight passing through the Earth’s atmosphere, break down in its
constituent colours and the red part gets scattered by the atmosphere
and falls on the Moon's surface, thereby making it take on a reddish
copper hue. That’s why a totally eclipsed Moon is called a “Blood
Moon”, as the colour of the Moon looks blackish-red.
A
lunar eclipse can only happen at full moon. Only then is it possible
for the moon to be directly opposite the sun in our sky, and to pass
into the Earth’s dark umbral shadow. Most of the time, however, the
full moon eludes the Earth’s shadow by swinging to the north of it,
or south of it. For instance, the last full moon on January 2, 2018,
swung south of the Earth’s shadow. The next full moon – on March
2, 2018 – will swing north of the Earth’s shadow.
Super
Moon:
A
super moon usually takes place every one to two years, when the full
moon coincides with its closest approach during its monthly orbit to
Earth. Because the moon has an elliptical orbit, one side - called
the perigee - is about 48,280 km (30,000 miles) closer to Earth than
the other side (the apogee). The term was coined by astrologer
Richard Nolle in 1979. During the phenomenon, the full moon appears
about 14 percent and 30 percent brighter that it would during regular
full moons. When this Earth-Moon-Sun system occurs with the perigee
side of the moon facing us, and the moon happens to be on the
opposite side of Earth from the sun, causes the moon to appear much
bigger and brighter in our sky than usual, and it's referred to as a
supermoon - or more technically, a perigee moon.
Blue
Moon:
Usually
full moon happens approximately once a month, or every 29.5 days.A
blue moon normally occurs about once every two and a half years. This
month’s first full moon was on 1 January.
A
Moon that actually looks blue, however, is a very rare sight. The
Moon, full or any other phrase, can appear blue when the atmosphere
is filled with dust or smoke particles of a certain size; slightly
wider than 0.7 micron. The particles scatter the red light, making
the Moon appear blue. This is known as Mie scattering, and can happen
for instance after a dust storm, a forest fire, or a volcanic
eruption.
Interestingly,
while you search about “Super blood blue Moon,” in internet, you
may see that it is happening after 152 years and the last time it
happened was in March 31,1866. But this is true only for the
Americas, not for everywhere on the globe. In Asia, the last Blue
Moon and total lunar eclipse happened on December 30, 1982.
The
moon is one of the most amazing objects in our solar system, and it
had often helped us study our solar system. Total eclipses of
the Moon are spectacular events and are easy to see with the naked
eye. NASA scientists say the way the moon's surface responds during
the eclipse can provide insights about where to land a rover for a
future mission.
The
best tip for anyone trying to see the eclipse is to get a clear view
of the horizon and look in the west-northwest direction. It can be
seen through the naked eye though using a telescope could make for a
fun experience. Just step outside, look up at the sky, and enjoy!
It's an astronomical trifecta which will occur once in someone’s
life time... Don't Miss it...
For
anyone who can't go out side, NASA has started its live stream of the
total lunar eclipse that will occur with a blue moon, known as a
Super Blue Blood Moon, for people to see the spectacular event
unfold. Here you go:
https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html#public
