{"id":18658,"date":"2018-01-30T18:09:31","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T10:09:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/a-lunar-wonder-or-a-washout-your-guide-to-the-super-blue-blood-moon-eclipse\/"},"modified":"2018-01-30T18:09:31","modified_gmt":"2018-01-30T10:09:31","slug":"a-lunar-wonder-or-a-washout-your-guide-to-the-super-blue-blood-moon-eclipse","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/a-lunar-wonder-or-a-washout-your-guide-to-the-super-blue-blood-moon-eclipse\/","title":{"rendered":"A lunar wonder \u2026 or a washout? Your guide to the super blue blood moon eclipse"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
A total lunar eclipse gives the full moon a reddish tinge in 2015. (GeekWire Photo \/ Kevin Lisota)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Geographically speaking, the Pacific Northwest is one of the best places in America to see tonight\u2019s super-hyped total lunar eclipse. Meteorologically speaking? Not so much.<\/p>\n

Seattleites might have to go as far east as Ellensburg to get a clear view of what\u2019s touted as a \u201csuper blue blood moon.\u201d And in reality, the moon won\u2019t be bloody, or blue, or even all that super.<\/p>\n

Before we go into full sour-grapes mode, let\u2019s acknowledge that if there\u2019s a chance of seeing the full moon fade to red between 4:51 a.m. and 6:07 a.m. PT Wednesday, it\u2019s definitely worth getting out of bed.<\/p>\n

\u201cSet your alarm early and go out and take a look,\u201d NASA\u2019s Gordon Johnson says in the space agency\u2019s preview of the eclipse.<\/p>\n

\"Lunar
This map shows which phases of the Jan. 31 eclipse will be visible from which parts of the world. The penumbra is a faint, ill-defined shadow on the moon, while the umbra is a darker, well-defined shadow. Click on the image for a larger version. (Sky & Telescope Graphic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A total lunar eclipse occurs when the moon lines up in its orbit around Earth so that our planet totally blocks out the sunlight falling directly on the lunar disk. The moon turns blood-red \u2014 or more accurately, a sunset shade of red or brown \u2014 thanks to the sunlight that\u2019s refracted as it passes through Earth\u2019s atmosphere.<\/p>\n

Unlike a total solar eclipse, which is visible only along a narrow track of our planet\u2019s surface, a total lunar eclipse is visible from half of the Earth at once, weather permitting. It\u2019s also totally safe to look at the moon during every phase of the eclipse.<\/p>\n

Because of the timing, this week\u2019s eclipse can be seen from start to finish if you\u2019re in western North America, the Pacific or east Asia. The northwest U.S. should be able to catch all of the good part, including the partial umbral phase that starts at 3:48 a.m. and ends at 7:11 a.m. PT, with totality in the middle.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the emphasis here is on \u201cshould\u201d: The weather forecast calls for heavy cloud cover overnight west of the Cascades. (Check Digital.Weather.gov for sky cover updates.)<\/p>\n

\"\"
This National Weather Service chart shows the sky cover forecast for 5 a.m. PT Jan 31. Grayer shades indicate a higher percentage of cloud cover, bluer shades indicate a lower percentage. Seattle is listed as having 88 percent cloud cover. (Digital.Weather.gov Graphic)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What makes this eclipse so special? A lunar eclipse of any kind occurs two to four times a year, and we\u2019re beginning a string of total eclipses that continues with occurrences on July 27 and on Jan. 21, 2019.<\/p>\n

The \u201csuper\u201d part of this eclipse comes from the fact that the moon looks roughly 7 percent larger and 14 percent brighter than average, thanks to its relatively proximity to Earth at the time of the eclipse. Most folks won\u2019t notice the difference, however. In fact, this \u201csupermoon\u201d isn\u2019t quite as big as the full moon of Jan. 1.<\/p>\n

The \u201cblue\u201d label recognizes that this is the second full moon in a calendar month. That\u2019s the currently accepted astronomical definition for a \u201cblue moon,\u201d the folk-wisdom standard for a rare event (which happens once in a blue moon).<\/p>\n

If you combine the eclipse, the moon\u2019s larger-than-average size, and the calendrical coincidence of a blue moon, you could argue that a super blue blood moon is a rare event. The last time that celestial trifecta paid off was in 1982 (for Europe, Africa and western Asia). If you\u2019re looking for a trifecta eclipse that was visible from North America, you have to go back to 1866.<\/p>\n