ONCE IN A SUPER BLUE BLOOD MOON Three unusual celestial phenomena will come together Wednesday morning to create one very special occasion. There will be a total eclipse of the moon visible over parts of the central and western United States and Canada, and that moon will also be a supermoon as well as a blue moon. The last time this lunar trifecta happened was in 1866. The East Coast, including all of North Carolina, will get to see only a partial eclipse, because totality will occur after the moon has set below the horizon here. We’ll next be able to see a total lunar eclipse on January 20/21, 2019.

What’s a supermoon? MICROMOON What’s a blood moon? The moon’s orbit around the When the moon passes through the umbra, where the earth fully blocks earth is elliptical, so the the sun’s light, this causes a total lunar eclipse. It’s called a blood moon distance between them varies. because the moon appears reddish when this occurs. A lunar eclipse Penumbra People have in recent years doesn’t happen every month because the moon’s orbit around the earth (Partial shadow) begun calling the time when a is on a slightly different plane than the earth’s orbit around the sun. full moon is closest to the earth a “supermoon,” though EARTH it’s not an official astronomical term. When the moon is at its farthest point from the earth, it’s called a “micromoon.” SUPERMOON SUN TOTAL EARTH ECLIPSE MOON A supermoon appears to us about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than a micro- Umbra PARTIAL moon. It looks especially Note: Not to scale (Full shadow) ECLIPSE MICROMOON SUPERMOON large near the horizon. Why does the What’s a blue moon? moon look red? What will we see here? The second full moon in a month is referred to as a Although the earth’s shadow The best time for people to see the show “blue moon.” (This is not, however, the term’s original fully blocks the moon from the sun, here will be about 7:10 a.m., shortly before meaning.) This year will have two months containing the earth’s atmosphere bends some light back the moon sets. Gordon Johnston of NASA two full moons, which is rare — that happens about toward the moon. White sunlight is comprised headquarters in Washington said we should three to five times in a century. It last happened in of seven different colors with different find a high spot and look to the horizon in the 1999, and the next year with two months with two full wavelengths. Blue light has a short wavelength west-northwest. For a livestream of the total MAXIMUM VIEW moons will be 2037. and is more scattered by the atmosphere, eclipse, you can visit http://nasa.gov/live. IN THE TRIAD leaving the reddish light as the only light to Sources: NASA.gov; Timeanddate.com; Space.com; NASA photo make it to the moon’s surface. CASSANDRA SHERRILL/WINSTON-SALEM JOURNAL