SoylentNews is people
SoylentNews
from the still-waiting-for-the-hyper-ultra-mega-turbo-moon dept.
According to a report at phys.org, The moon is about to do something it hasn't done in more than 150 years:
Three separate celestial events will occur simultaneously that night, resulting in what some are calling a super blue blood moon eclipse. The astronomical rarity hasn't happened for more than 150 years.
A super moon, like the one visible on New Year's Day, is the term for when a full moon is closest to the Earth in its orbit, appearing bigger and brighter than normal.
On Jan. 31, the moon will be full for the second time in a month, a rare occasion—it happens once every two and a half years—known as a blue moon.
To top it off, there will also be a total lunar eclipse. But unlike last year's solar eclipse, this sky-watching event isn't going to be as visible in the continental United States. The best views of the middle-of-the-night eclipse will be in central and eastern Asia, Indonesia, New Zealand and Australia, although Alaska and Hawaii will get a glimpse, too.
For the rest of the U.S., the eclipse will come too close to when the moon sets for the phenomenon to be visible.
Because of the way the light filters through the atmosphere during an eclipse, blue light is bounced away from the moon, while red light is reflected. The eclipsed moon's reddish color earned it the nickname blood moon.
Super blue blood moon?
So, an extremely noble or socially prominent moon? ;)
I wonder what differences, if any, there would be in the appearance of the Earth from a person standing on the moon, compared to a "normal" full moon?
(Score: 3, Touché) by maxwell demon on Friday January 05 2018, @07:36PM (4 children)
A lunar eclipse is when they replace the lamps illuminating the moon. They do it on a fixed schedule, that's why the eclipses are predictable. ;-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday January 05 2018, @07:46PM (2 children)
Why don't they just replace them after moonset when the moon's not visible from anywhere on the surface of this flat earth?
(Score: 3, Funny) by The Archon V2.0 on Friday January 05 2018, @07:57PM
And pay all that overtime?
(Score: 2) by maxwell demon on Friday January 05 2018, @07:58PM
Because of the visual control that the new lamps work, of course. :-)
The Tao of math: The numbers you can count are not the real numbers.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday January 06 2018, @08:13AM
So, the Japanese are involved? Americans and most of Europe are unable to run trains on time. The Japanese, whatever other faults they may have, can run a train on time.