‘SUPER BLUE BLOOD MOON!’ Nasa hails visual spectacular on its way THIS month
THE first lunar eclipse of the year is set to take place at the end of the month in a phenomenon being heralded to as a ‘Blue Moon’.
Despite the name, a Blue Moon is actually white, but it is a total eclipse that involves the second full moon in a month.
The first full moon has taken place in the first few days of 2018, and will also be the biggest supermoon of the year.
So rare is a Blue Moon that the phenomenon has not occurred for more than 150 years since 1866.
The lunar eclipse will take place on January 31, and the next one will not be until 2028.
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The moon will also take on an red eerie glow because it coincides with a total lunar eclipse across America.
During a total lunar eclipse, the moon is sometimes known as a Blood Moon because of the way the atmosphere bends the light.
NASA said: “With the total eclipse, it’ll be a royal spectacle indeed: a ‘super blue blood’ Moon.
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“Sometimes the celestial rhythms sync up just right to wow us. Heed your calendar reminders."
The totality of the lunar eclipse will be seen from western North America all the way across the Pacific to Eastern Asia.
The eclipsed moon will lose its brightness and take on a fainter-than-normal glow and could appear a menacing red in the night sky.
Sarah Noble, a program Scientist at NASA headquarters, said: “We’re seeing all of the Earth’s sunrises and sunsets at that moment reflected from the surface of the Moon.”
The lunar eclipse will take place when the full moon lines up perfectly with Earth and the Sun such that our planet totally blocks out the sunlight normally reflect off the Moon.
