The full moon disappeared this evening when an eclipse occurred. The bright moon became a reddish brown dull spot in the sky among the stars during the full total lunar eclipse. Tonight is also a super moon and also called the flower moon.
Super Flower Blood Moon
The witches must be flying rapidly on their brooms this Halloween as the wind is blowing hard this evening while the full moon shines through the clouds. And it is a blue moon too, not only because it is the second full moon in this month, but because the wind chill is in the low twenties.
Halloween Moon
As the sun was setting this evening, the eastern sky had a pink hue but the warmer looking horizon was deceiving as the wind chill was in the single digits. The “Snow Moon” tonight has a very fitting name with the approaching snow storm which might drop a half foot of those froze flakes.
Snow Moon
“One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” A famous line made by Commander Neil Armstrong fifty years ago today when he became the first man to step onto the moon’s surface.
Landing on the Moon
Tonight held a treat of a total lunar eclipse, one referred to as Super Blood Wolf Moon lunar eclipse. “Super” refers to the fact that the Moon will be closest to the Earth in its orbit when the total eclipse takes place. The reddish hue the Moon takes on during the eclipse gives it the “blood” name. The Old Farmer’s Almanac contributes the “wolf” name, as full moons in January are known as Full Wolf Moons. Course when the skies are clear for the full moon in January, it normally means a cold night and very true tonight with below zero temperatures. So I didn’t stay outside to take a picture every few minutes like I have done in past even though I will have to wait until May 2021 to try again.
Super Blood Wolf Moon
Tonight’s full moon appeared bigger than normal and would have appeared brighter too except it was playing hide and seek with the clouds when I was watching it. Supermoons occur on the average once in fourteen months when its orbit hits perigee at the same time, but this full moon is the closest to the earth since January 26, 1948 and the next time it will be closer is on November 25, 2034.
November Super Moon
When the moon was rising this evening, it looked more like a sunset with the light reflecting on the clouds and ice crystals creating some color around the moon.
Colorful Moon
The night sky put on a nice treat, but this time it wasn’t a colorful orange-red sunset as the moon took on the blood color this time and the Blood Moon is the fourth and final eclipse of a lunar tetrad (four straight total eclipses of the moon, spaced at six full moons apart). It is also the Northern Hemisphere’s Harvest Moon, or full moon nearest the September equinox. In addition, tonight’s moon is a Supermoon, as it happens to be the moon’s closest encounter with Earth for all of 2015, making it appear 14% larger and 33% brighter than other full moons. The combination of a supermoon with an eclipse is a rare treat, with the last one occurring in 1982 and the next one in 2033.
I wish I was still on vacation to take the lunar eclipse next to a lighthouse, but since I wasn’t nor did I have any unique structure to line up with the moon, I just took close up pictures of the super duper lunar event.
Super Duper Lunar
The pine tree monster looks like it wants to devour the moon, even dripping sap saliva as it waits for its meal.
Monster Eating Moon
Today’s full moon is called a Blue Moon, even though the moon isn’t any bluer than the full moon earlier this month. But once in a while there is a blue moon, when a volcanic eruption or smoke filters the Sun’s reflected light and makes the moon appear blue.
The original definition in the Maine Farmers’ Almanac defined a “blue moon” as the third full moon in a season with four full moons instead of the typical three. The second definition came about after an article by hobby astronomer James Hugh Pruett was published in the American magazine Sky and Telescope in 1946. He made a miscalculation, and claimed that any second full Moon in a calendar month is called a blue moon. A correction was printed but the mistake spread worldwide and is now the most common definition.
So the next blue moon by the original definition would be May 21, 2016 and next blue moon based on two in a month will be January 31, 2018. The true blue moon based on color isn’t as easy to predict since based on particles in the air.
Once in a Blue Moon
