A blue moon, a supermoon and a lunar eclipse will all fall on the same late-January date 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 supermoon and a total lunar eclipse at the same time for North America was on March 31, 1866.

More recently, a blue moon, a supermoon and a lunar eclipse occurred at the same time on December 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 November 30, not early on December 1.

Full moon names on January 31:
Blood Moon: The name given to the moon during a total lunar eclipse when the moon appears red in color.
Super Moon: A full moon that appears larger and brighter than a typical full moon..
Blue Moon: The name given to a second full moon in a calendar month. A blue moon does not appear the color blue.

The full moon will rise on the evening of Tuesday, January 30, and set around daybreak on Wednesday, January 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 January 31, the moon will turn a rusty orange or red color as it passes into the Earth's shadow.

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.

To learn what time the moon eclipse will occur in your area, see timeanddate.com/eclipse

Lada, Brian, AccuWeather meteorologist and staff writer,
Super blue moon to coincide with lunar eclipse for 1st
time in 150 years, January 26, 2018

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