A full moon in a clear night sky is nothing short of breathtaking. But, the next one will be even better, for three reasons.
Early on Wednesday morning, much of the world will get to see the lunar trifecta, if you will: a blue moon, a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse, all in one. This hasn’t happened since 1982 and won’t again until 2037.
For short, NASA’s calling it the “Super Blue Blood Moon.”
Let’s take it one phenomenon at a time. The moon on Wednesday morning:
- Will be the second full moon this month, also known as a “blue moon.”
- Will appear bigger and brighter. A supermoon is when the moon is closer to Earth in its orbit, known as “perigee.”
- Will pass through Earth’s shadow during a lunar eclipse and take on a reddish tint, known as a “blood moon.”
The eclipse will be visible best in the western half of the U.S. and Canada before the moon sets early Wednesday morning, and across the Pacific into Asia as the moon rises Wednesday night into Thursday.
North Texas will have clear skies and favorable conditions for viewing the rare event, the National Weather Service in Fort Worth says. The total lunar eclipse will begin at 6:51 a.m. Here’s how it will play out locally, according to timeanddate.com.
Looking forward to the lunar eclipse early Wednesday morning? Sky cover forecast looks favorable, with very few clouds expected. #dfwwx #ctxwx pic.twitter.com/RHxf3ZBfeP
— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) January 30, 2018
Here’s how it will play out across the globe by NASA’s calculations.
NASA plans to provide a livestream of the moon from telescopes in California and Arizona, beginning at 4:30 a.m.
If you miss it, you’ll have to wait almost another year for the next opportunity in North America, according to NASA. The Jan. 21, 2019 lunar eclipse will be visible throughout all of the U.S. and will be a supermoon, but not a blue moon.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
