Stargazers are in for a treat on Wednesday, as it is the day when the rarest of rare space phenomenon will take place.
Stargazers are in for a treat on Wednesday, as it is the day when the rarest of rare space phenomenon will take place.
After the Total Solar Eclipse in 2017 it is time to witness not only the blue moon, but also a super moon and total lunar eclipse, all together. One of the rarest phenomenon that has not been seen since 1982 and you will not be lucky enough to witness this until 2037.
A blue moon is the second full moon in a month and the moon is on a 28-day cycle so that once in a blue moon.
Super moon is when a moon appears slightly bigger in size and brighter as compared to normal days because it is closer to earth.
According to NASA's Ames Reasearch Centre the moon can "appear 17% largest that it does at its furthest point in its orbit. "
Now, total Lunar Eclipse is the phenomenon when earth comes exactly between the moon and the sun. The earth's shadow falls on the moon. The moon looks red in colour and slightly brighter than normal. This is because when Earth casts it's shadow on moon, some of the sunlight reaches the moon after getting refracted through the earth's atmosphere. This phenomenon makes the moon glow red or takes down a low brown shade which is known as blood moon.
Most interesting part of today's Total Lunar Eclipse is that the occurrence of all the three events together.
A total lunar eclipse will take place alongside a blue moon and a Super Moon, making skywatchers excited for the epic moment.
In India, the phenomenon will be seen by the people of north-East, who will be able to witness this event between 4:21 PM and 5:18 PM IST.
Rest of India will get a chance to see this 'Super Blue Blood moon' between 5:18 PM IST and 6:21 PM IST. The west coast and parts of Rajasthan will see the celestial event from 6:21 PM IST to 7:37 PM IST.
The eclipse is expected to last for one hour and 16 minutes in the country.
The celestial event is a lunar trifecta: a Supermoon (a moon at perigee, the closest to Earth that it gets in its orbit), a total lunar eclipse (a blood moon), and a blue moon (the second full moon of a calendar month).
Meanwhile, NASA is offering a free live feed of the 'lunar trifecta' on NASA TV and NASA.gov/live.
"What do you get when you have a supermoon, which also happens to be the 2nd full Moon of the month, passing through Earth's shadow during a total lunar eclipse? A Super Blue Blood Moon! Catch this lunar trifecta coming our way on January 31," tweeted NASA.
The best view of the 'Super Blueblood' moon can be had from western North America across the Pacific Ocean to East Asia.
Other parts of the world, including Australia and Asia, will see it at night, as the moon comes up in the west.
In Asia, the last Blue Moon and total lunar eclipse happened 35 years ago on December 30, 1982. Meanwhile, for Americans, this phenomenon is happening after 152 years and the last time it happened was in 1866.
(With Inputs from ANI)
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