Now that is a mouthful for sure. This rare lunar event that everyone is talking about. It’s going to be a celestial event of epic proportions. According to NASA, this event is a lunar trifecta where three very particular events are colliding. The 31st of January, tomorrow, is a total lunar eclipse coinciding with a supermoon and a blue moon. This lunar event has been called a Super Blue Blood Moon and India will get to watch this spectacular happening along with part of the world.
What exactly is a Super Blue Blood Moon?
According to Nasa, a supermoon occurs when a full moon coincides with the Moon’s closest orbit point (perigee) to the planet. In this case, Earth. During such a phenomenon, the Moon appears almost 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than normal. As we have learnt in school, most celestial bodies in our solar system have an elliptical orbit. These include the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, as well as the orbit of the Moon. The farthest distance between the moon and the Earth is termed ‘apogee’, while the perigee is the nearest point between planet Earth and its satellite.
So where does the blue moon come into this you ask? The 31st of January’s lunar eclipse will indeed be a special one. This is because it’s going to be a total lunar eclipse, where the satellite (the Moon) will have a reddish tinge to it. It’s also the second total lunar eclipse to happen in the same month and year. When such an event takes place, it comes to be known as ‘blue moon’. And that’s how the supermoon becomes a Super Blue Blood Moon.
India gets to witness this phenomenon in all its glory
India is getting to watch this marvellous event. The first people who will get to see it happen will be our countrymen and women in the North East states between approximately 4:00 pm and 5:30 pm IST. The rest of India gets to see the Super Blue Blood Moon between approximately 5:00 pm and 7:40 pm.
So for all those aspiring astrophysicists and such, be sure to stand on the terrace or out in the balcony of your buildings or homes at the timings mentioned. You definitely don’t want to miss out on this event. After all, as they say, such things only occur ‘once in a blue moon’.
Information credit – Indian Express
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