Three rare astronomic phenomena in One: The Super Blue Blood Moon. The ultra rare lunar event is occurring today, Wednesday, January 31st 2018. The names given to the rare phenomena are due to:
The moon is blue because it is the second of two full moons in a calendar month.
The moon is super because its perigee coincides with its fullness.
The moon is red (“blood”) because a lunar eclipse casts a red shadow on the moon.
The Blood Moon occurs because the Earth is passing between the Moon and the Sun, which gives the Moon a reddish tint to it. It’s caused by light bending around the Earth because of gravity passing around a portion of the atmosphere, more commonly known as a lunar eclipse.
A Blue Moon combined with a Supermoon (when the Moon is at its closest point to Earth and appears to be 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than normal) the rare phenomena is called a Super Blue Blood Moon happens. Supermoons generally only occur once every 14 months and will not happen again until January 2019.
The last time all of these events occurred simultaneously in the Western hemisphere was 1866.
A lunar trio will be visible in the sky tomorrow before dawn:
🌕Supermoon – When the Moon is at/near its closest point to Earth
🔵Blue Moon – The 2nd full moon in a month
🔴Blood Moon – The red tint Earth’s shadow casts on the Moon during a lunar eclipsehttps://t.co/4XHqTsdR9Q pic.twitter.com/CxH1AlcQ5x— NASA (@NASA) January 31, 2018
Visibility
Residents in East Europe have more chances to see the lunar eclipse.
In Greece the Penumbral lunar eclipse is visible. Duration 17 minutes and 52 seconds.
Moonrise:Jan 31 at 5:50:37 pm
Local max:Jan 31 at 5:53:28 pm
Penumbral ends:Jan 31 at 6:08:29 pm
Times shown in local time (EET)
Forecast: Clear. Cool.
This day was cloudy 81% of the time (since 2000)
Maximal Eclipse visible in Greece at 05:53 p.m.
The maximum part of the eclipse occurs when the Moon is close under the horizon. The best time to view the eclipse in Athens would be around this time.
Since the Moon is near the horizon at this time, it is recommended to go to a high point or finding an unobstructed area with free sight to East-northeast for the best view of the eclipse.
Check lunar eclipse visibility and location in interactive map TimeandDate.com
For visibility in US check here.
Meanwhile, while it is noon time in Greece, in Australia….
Blue Moon from the land down under pic.twitter.com/n0OXwW769b
— Jack Peason (@JackPea59314372) January 31, 2018
