First time in 150 years: The ‘super blue blood moon’

Stargazers in North America will get their reward for labouring through the January blues with a lunar event 150 years in the making at the end of this month.

A rare confluence of a blue moon, a supermoon, a blood moon and a total lunar eclipse will be visible in the sky over parts of the US and Canada on January 31 – the first time a ‘super blue blood moon’ has happened since March 31, 1866.

What is a ‘super blue blood moon’ anyway?

Supermoons, which occur when the moon is full at the same time it is at its closest approach to the Earth, appear 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than normal full moons. The forthcoming supermoon is the last in a trilogy that began on December 3 with the second visible on New Year’s Day. The third is now due to arrive at the end of the month. However, because it is the second full moon in the same month, the phenomenon is also a “blue moon.”

When and where is best to see this thing?

The best time to see the supermoon will be directly after moonrise and just before sunrise on January 31 2018. Meanwhile, the lunar eclipse will best be viewed from eastern Asia, the Pacific regions and western areas of North America. People in eastern North America and Europe will only be able to see a partial eclipse.