Plan B Forum

A blue moon, a super moon and a lunar eclipse will all fall on the same night at the end of January in an event that hasn’t happened in over 150 years.

These three lunar events separately are not uncommon, but it is rare for all three to occur at the same time. The last time that there was a blue moon, a super moon and a total lunar eclipse at the same time for North America was on March 31, 1866.

More recently, a blue moon, a super moon and a lunar eclipse occurred at the same time on Dec. 30, 1982, but only for the Eastern Hemisphere. Because of time zones, the full moon was not considered a blue moon for North America as the previous full moon occurred at the end of Nov. 30, not early on Dec. 1.

The full moon will rise on the evening of Tuesday, Jan. 30, and set around daybreak on Wednesday, Jan. 31, local time.

People all across North America will be able to see the moon light up the night sky, as long as clouds do not interfere, but only those in the central and western parts of the continent will be able to see a total lunar eclipse.

How to view the total lunar eclipse

For most of the night, the moon will appear its normal color. However, during the predawn hours on Jan. 31, the moon will turn a rusty orange or red color as it passes into the Earth's shadow.

“This will be the first total lunar eclipse since 2015,” AccuWeather Astronomy Blogger Dave Samuhel said.

During a total lunar eclipse, the moon passes through the darkest part of the Earth's shadow. Unlike a total solar eclipse which lasts only minutes, this will last for several hours.

The eclipse will start around 2:51 a.m. PST on Jan. 31, but the shadow of the Earth will really begin to become noticeable on the face of the moon at 3:48 a.m. PST when the partial phase of the eclipse begins.

The total lunar eclipse will occur between 4:51 a.m. PST and 6:07 a.m. PST with the height of the eclipse occurring at 5:29 a.m. PST.

After the total eclipse ends, the moon will slowly regain its normal appearance with the eclipse ending at 8:08 a.m. PST.

Residents in most of the United States and Canada will be able to see the total eclipse before the moon sets around daybreak, local time. However, those in the eastern United States and eastern Canada will see only a partial lunar eclipse as the moon will set before it enters totality.

Burning Petard wrote:around here we will be totally socked in with low cloud cover.
snailgate

Round Here
Step out the front door like a ghost
Into the fog where no one notices
The contrast of white on white.
And in between the moon and you
* * *
Round here we always stand up straight
Round here something radiates
* * *
Round here hey man got lots of time
Round here we're never sent to bed early
And nobody makes us wait
Round here we stay up very, very, very, very late

Lord Jim wrote:Thanks for the heads up Long Run, this sounds way cool...
I'm probably going the only one up in my house that early, but the early mornings have been pretty clear lately so I'll probably be able to check it out...

Crackpot wrote:What were you doing in Bay City?

Crackpot wrote:What were you doing in Bay City?

Lord Jim wrote:

Crackpot wrote:What were you doing in Bay City?

Getting away from Chicago...

Econoline wrote:

Crackpot wrote:What were you doing in Bay City?

Delivering a repair part to the home of a technician from TomoTherapy/Accuray for him to install in the Radiation Therapy Dept. at St. Mary's West Branch Regional Medical Center. It had to be delivered between 0530 and 0600 EST, and then I had to turn right around and drive 378 miles home. (I then slept most of the day yesterday.)