SUNDAY evening, a blood-red moon will adorn the skies above America and Western Europe. A total lunar eclipse, or “blood moon,” is a rare event. On average we see only a couple every few years, and the next one doesn’t occur until 2021. The particulars of Sunday’s eclipse, however, make it especially noteworthy. First, it’s a Wolf moon, the name given the first full moon of the year. Second, it’s a Supermoon, meaning the Moon is at its closest possible distance to Earth, thus appearing considerably larger than normal.
In addition to being a rare “Super Blood Wolf Moon,” this weekend’s blood moon may be the most viewed in US history. This is because the entire eclipse is visible from start to finish for the contiguous 48 states and totality begins early in the evening (before midnight from coast to coast). Only two other eclipses in the last half century meet these two criteria, one in April of 1968 and one in January of 2000. Sunday’s eclipse will also last longer than normal: totality will last for over an hour and the entire eclipse more than five hours…..Read More