Here’s What The Super Blue Blood Moon Looked Like This Morning

In case you can’t tell from the name, the super blue blood moon is no ordinary lunar event. Beginning yesterday and going into this morning, Earthlings were treated to a combination of a supermoon, a blood moon and a lunar eclipse — altogether creating the super blue blood moon.

Not sure what the fuss is all about? Unlike 2017’s solar eclipse when the moon momentarily blocked out the sun, a lunar eclipse (otherwise known as a blood moon) takes place when the Earth rotates between the sun and the moon. The moon passes through Earth’s shadow is is blocked from receiving the sun’s light. However the moon is not only still visible but looks red because the Earth’s atmosphere refracts the sun’s light and indirectly lights up the moon giving it a reddish hue.

Lunar eclipses aren’t terribly rare, but this blood moon also happens to be a blue moon, which means it is the second full moon to occur in a month. It is also a supermoon, which means it will be closer to Earth than normal. The result is a moon that will look extra big, extra bright, and very red.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BegGsnoHFwZ/?taken-by=nasa

Super Blue Blood Moon Photos

The eclipse began at 5:51 a.m. EST as the sky became lighter, which made viewing on the East Coast a bit more difficult. However those on the West Coast, Hawaii, or Alaska were in luck. The best views were visible in the west starting at 4:52 a.m. PST.

Here is the moon beginning to enter the Earth’s shadow around 7:51 a.m. EST/4:51 a.m. PST this morning:

And here’s a fantastic photo of the moon between the Earth and the sun, all lit up red:

And that was it! The next super blue blood moon won’t be until Jan. 31, 2037 so you’ll have to wait awhile for this celestial event to occur again.

Science is so cool, isn’t it?