A total

lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse is an astronomical event that occurs when the Moon moves into the Earth's shadow, causing the Moon to be darkened. Such an alignment occurs during an eclipse season, approximately every six months, during the full moon phase, ...

occurred at the Moon’s

ascending node An orbital node is either of the two points where an orbit intersects a plane of reference to which it is inclined. A non-inclined orbit, which is contained in the reference plane, has no nodes. Planes of reference Common planes of referenc ...

of orbit on Wednesday, January 31, 2018, with an umbral

magnitude Magnitude may refer to: Mathematics *Euclidean vector, a quantity defined by both its magnitude and its direction *Magnitude (mathematics), the relative size of an object *Norm (mathematics), a term for the size or length of a vector *Order of ...

of 1.3155. A lunar eclipse occurs when the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

moves into the

Earth's shadow Earth's shadow (or Earth shadow) is the shadow that Earth itself casts through its atmosphere and into outer space, toward the antisolar point. During the twilight period (both early dusk and late dawn), the shadow's visible fringe – someti ...

, causing the Moon to be darkened. A total lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon's near side entirely passes into the Earth's umbral shadow. Unlike a

solar eclipse A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby obscuring the view of the Sun from a small part of Earth, totally or partially. Such an alignment occurs approximately every six months, during the eclipse season i ...

, which can only be viewed from a relatively small area of the world, a lunar eclipse may be viewed from anywhere on the

night Night, or nighttime, is the period of darkness when the Sun is below the horizon. Sunlight illuminates one side of the Earth, leaving the other in darkness. The opposite of nighttime is daytime. Earth's rotation causes the appearance of ...

side of Earth. A total lunar eclipse can last up to nearly two hours, while a total solar eclipse lasts only a few minutes at any given place, because the Moon's

shadow A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensio ...

is smaller. Occurring about 1.4 days after

perigee An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. The line of apsides (also called apse line, or major axis of the orbit) is the line connecting the two extreme values. Apsides perta ...

(on January 30, 2018, at 4:55 UTC), the Moon's apparent diameter was larger. Because the

was near its perigee on January 30, it may be described as a "

supermoon A supermoon is a full moon or a new moon that nearly coincides with perigee—the closest that the Moon comes to the Earth in its orbit—resulting in a slightly larger-than-usual apparent size of the lunar disk as viewed from Earth. The te ...

", when the Moon's distance from the Earth is less than 360,000 km (223,694 miles). The previous supermoon lunar eclipse was on September 28, 2015. The Moon was 360,202 km (223,819 mi) from the Earth. This eclipse also coincided with a

blue moon A blue moon refers either to the presence of a second full moon in a calendar month, to the third full moon in a season containing four, or to a moon that appears blue due to atmospheric effects. The calendrical meaning of "blue moon" is unc ...

, which occurs when there are two full moons in the same calendar month, or if there are four full moons in the same season (third of four is blue moon). As this supermoon was also a blue moon (the second full moon in a calendar month), it was referred to as a "super blue blood moon"; "blood" refers to the typical red color of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. This event was called a 'Trifecta'. This coincidence last occurred on December 30, 1982 for the

eastern hemisphere The Eastern Hemisphere is the half of the planet Earth which is east of the prime meridian (which crosses Greenwich, London, United Kingdom) and west of the antimeridian (which crosses the Pacific Ocean and relatively little land from pole to p ...

, and otherwise before that on March 31, 1866. The next occurrence will be on January 31, 2037, one

metonic cycle The Metonic cycle or enneadecaeteris (from , from ἐννεακαίδεκα, "nineteen") is a period of almost exactly 19 years after which the lunar phases recur at the same time of the year. The recurrence is not perfect, and by precise obser ...

(19 years) later.

Background

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth's

umbra The umbra, penumbra and antumbra are three distinct parts of a shadow, created by any light source after impinging on an opaque object of lesser size. In cases of equal or smaller impinging objects, only an umbra and penumba are generated. As ...

(shadow). As the eclipse begins, Earth's shadow first darkens the Moon slightly. Then, the shadow begins to "cover" part of the Moon, turning it a dark red-brown color (typically – the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions). The Moon appears to be reddish because of

Rayleigh scattering Rayleigh scattering ( ) is the scattering or deflection of light, or other electromagnetic radiation, by particles with a size much smaller than the wavelength of the radiation. For light frequencies well below the resonance frequency of the scat ...

(the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish) and the refraction of that light by Earth's atmosphere into its umbra. The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through Earth's shadow. The northern portion of the Moon is closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest and reddest in appearance. Animation_January_18_2018_lunar_eclipse_appearance

Animation_January_18_2018_lunar_eclipse_appearance

"Super blue blood moon"

This was a "

", as the Moon was near to its closest distance to earth in its elliptical orbit, making it 7% larger in

apparent diameter The angular diameter, angular size, apparent diameter, or apparent size is an angular separation (in units of angle) describing how large a sphere or circle appears from a given point of view. In the vision sciences, it is called the '' visual ...

or 14% larger in area, than an average full moon. The previous supermoon lunar eclipse was during the September 2015 lunar eclipse.Super Blue Moon eclipse on January 31
Earthsky.org, January 30, 2018 The full moon of January 31, 2018 was the second full moon that calendar month (in most time zones), making it, under one definition of the term, a "

". Additionally referencing the orange or red "blood" colors that occur during a lunar eclipse, media sources described the event as a "super blue blood Moon".

Characteristics

Visibility

The

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five Borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is ...

was turned toward the Moon at the time of the eclipse. Central and

eastern Asia East Asia is a geocultural region of Asia. It includes China, Japan, Mongolia, North Korea, South Korea, and Taiwan, plus two special administrative regions of China, Hong Kong and Macau. The economies of China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan ...

(including most of

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and most of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

got a good view of this moon show in the evening sky. For

Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

, the

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

, the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, the eclipse was underway as the moon rose. Along the U.S. West Coast, the total phase began at 4:51 a.m. PST. The further east, the closer the start of the partial phases coincided with moonset. Along the U.S.

Atlantic Seaboard Atlantic Coast may refer to: * Any coast facing the Atlantic Ocean Regions * East Coast of the United States * Gulf Coast of the United States * Caribbean region of Colombia * Atlantic Canada * Argentine Basin Sports * Atlantic Coast Confe ...

, for instance, the Moon had only just begun to enter the darkest part of Earth's shadow, the umbra, at 6:48 a.m. EST when it disappeared from view below the west-northwest horizon. The duration of the total phase was 77 minutes, with the Moon tracking through the southern part of the Earth's shadow. During totality, the Moon's lower limb appeared brighter than the dark upper limb.

Timing

File:Lunar eclipse of 2018 January 31 (Montage s4).jpg, Example in

Aichi Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,461,111 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

Gallery

North America

File:MG 3167.CR2 (25133363417).jpg,

Fayetteville, North Carolina Fayetteville ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Cumberland County, North Carolina, United States. It is best known as the home of Fort Bragg, a major U.S. Army installation northwest of the city. Fayetteville has received the All-Ameri ...

, 11:36 UTC File:180131-N-GO855-020 (40081843921).jpg, Partial from

Naval Base Point Loma Naval Base Point Loma (NBPL) is a United States Navy base in Point Loma, a neighborhood of San Diego, California. It was established on 1 October 1998 when Navy facilities in the Point Loma area of San Diego were consolidated under Commander, N ...

, California File:Super Blue Blood Moon 2018 (26137638178).jpg,

Melbourne, Florida Melbourne ( ) is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located southeast of Orlando, Florida, Orlando along Florida's Space Coast, named because of the region's proximity to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. The city ...

, 12:00 UTC File:January 31, 2018 lunar eclipse - Jacksonville FL.jpg,

Jacksonville, Florida Jacksonville ( ) is the most populous city proper in the U.S. state of Florida, located on the Atlantic coast of North Florida, northeastern Florida. It is the county seat of Duval County, Florida, Duval County, with which the City of Jacksonv ...

, 12:10 UTC File:Partial Lunar Eclipse on 1-31-18 (26137564738).jpg,

Macon, Georgia Macon ( ), officially Macon–Bibb County, is a consolidated city-county in Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, United States. Situated near the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, fall line of the Ocmulgee River, it is southeast of Atlanta and near the ...

, 12:11 UTC File:MX TV ECLIPSE DE LUNA, TULA (25198113237).jpg,

Tula, Tamaulipas Tula is a town located in Tula Municipality in the Mexico, Mexican List of states of Mexico, state of Tamaulipas. History The city was founded on 22 July 1617, by the Franciscans, Franciscan friar Juan Baptist of Mollinedo; thus, it is usually co ...

, 12:29 UTC File:Lunar eclipse of 2018 January 31 in Houston (6).jpg,

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, 12:41 UTC File:20180131 125101000 iOS (39432379265).jpg,

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, 12:51 UTC File:Lunar Eclipse 2018 1 31 (39105305775).jpg, Totality from

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural List of regions of California, region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Its densely populated coastal reg ...

, 12:58 UTC File:Lunar eclipse of 2018 January 31 in Denver.JPG,

Denver, Colorado Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, 12:59 UTC File:In-camera double exposure Super Blue Blood Moon at Roosevelt Arch (40004267771).jpg,

Yellowstone National Park Yellowstone National Park is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending into Montana and Idaho. It was established by the 42nd U ...

, 13:03 UTC File:Bloodmoon (25136519267).jpg, Placitas, New Mexico, 13:35 UTC File:Super Blue Blood Moon (28224587179).jpg,

Redwood City, California Redwood City is a city on the San Francisco Peninsula in the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay Area of Northern California, approximately south of San Francisco and northwest of San Jose, California, San Jose. The city's population was 84,292 accor ...

, 13:43 UTC File:Exsanguination (39982933632).jpg,

Novato, California Novato (Spanish language, Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, situated in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 c ...

, 14:13 UTC File:Trifecta-Exit-Dawn-01-31-18.jpg,

Landers, California Landers is an unincorporated community in the High Desert region of the Mojave Desert, in San Bernardino County, California. Landers' population, as of 2017, is 2,982 people. Its residents are sometimes referred to as "Landroids"—an allusio ...

dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the diffuse sky radiation, appearance of indirect sunlight being Rayleigh scattering, scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc ha ...

File:Trifecta Morning Mountain Moonset 01-31-2018.jpg,

Joshua Tree, California Joshua Tree is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Bernardino County, California, United States. The population was 6,489 at the 2020 census. At approximately above sea level, Joshua Tree and its surrounding communities are located in the Hig ...

Asia and Middle East

File:Amazing Super Blue Blood Moon 2018.jpg, Partial from

Ilagan, Isabela Ilagan, officially the City of Ilagan (; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, component city and capital of the Provinces of the Philippines, province of Isabela (province), Isabela, Philippines. According to the 2020 cen ...

File:Lunar eclipse (26131047528).jpg, Hiroshima, Japan, 11:43 UTC File:2018年1月31日の皆既月食 1.jpg, Shinjyuku, Tokyo, 12:52 UTC File:Lunar eclipse in Chiang Mai January 31 2018 B2P1260650.jpg, Chiang Mai, Thailand, 12:57 UTC File:Super blue blood moon (40004200211).jpg, Chōfu, Tokyo, 13:22 UTC File:Lunar eclipse 31 January 2018 21 50 57 Guangzhou China.jpg,

Guangzhou, China Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

, 13:50 UTC File:January 2018 Lunar Eclipse.jpg, Kerala, India, 14:03 UTC File:2018 01 31`5731-5750`v05`4500px (40190126321).jpg, Novosibirsk, Russia, 14:06 UTC File:Lunar eclipse in George Town, Penang on 31 January 2018.jpg, George Town, Malaysia, 14:16 UTC File:DSC 0179 Super Blue Blood Moon (39106943665).jpg,

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

, 14:32 UTC File:Eclipse and Super blue blood moon 31.01.2018 DSCN9664.jpg, From

Kuwait Kuwait, officially the State of Kuwait, is a country in West Asia and the geopolitical region known as the Middle East. It is situated in the northern edge of the Arabian Peninsula at the head of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to Iraq–Kuwait ...

at moonrise, 15:03 UTC File:Partial Lunar Eclipse of January 31st, 2018.jpg,

Nanjing, China Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

, 15:10 UTC File:Кровавая Луна.jpg, From

Russian Far East The Russian Far East ( rus, Дальний Восток России, p=ˈdalʲnʲɪj vɐˈstok rɐˈsʲiɪ) is a region in North Asia. It is the easternmost part of Russia and the Asia, Asian continent, and is coextensive with the Far Easte ...

Oceania

File:Lunar Eclipse (39971126492).jpg, Lake Wendouree, Victoria, 12:40 UTC File:2018.01.31.23.49.24-Lunar eclipse (39865858205).jpg,

Sydney, Australia Sydney is the capital city of the state of New South Wales and the most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about 80 km (50 mi) from the Pacific Ocean ...

, 12:49 UTC File:20180201 Chelsea, total lunar eclipse 4.jpg,

Chelsea, Victoria Chelsea is a suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 30 km south-east of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Kingston Local government areas of Victo ...

, 13:44 UTC

Eclipse details

Shown below is a table displaying details about this particular lunar eclipse. It describes various parameters pertaining to this eclipse.

Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an

eclipse season An eclipse season is a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Eclipse seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of the Orbit of the Moon, Moon's orbital plane (orbital inclination, tilted five degrees to the ecliptic, Earth ...

, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a

fortnight A fortnight is a unit of time equal to 14 days (two weeks). The word derives from the Old English term , meaning "" (or "fourteen days", since the Anglo-Saxons counted by nights). Astronomy and tides In astronomy, a ''lunar fortnight'' is hal ...

Related eclipses

Eclipses in 2018

* A total lunar eclipse on January 31. * A partial solar eclipse on February 15. * A partial solar eclipse on July 13. * A total lunar eclipse on July 27. * A partial solar eclipse on August 11.

Metonic

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 15, 2014 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of November 19, 2021

Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of December 21, 2010 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of March 14, 2025

Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of January 26, 2009 * Followed by: Solar eclipse of February 6, 2027

Tritos

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of March 3, 2007 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 31, 2028

Lunar Saros 124

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of January 21, 2000 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of February 11, 2036

Inex

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of February 20, 1989 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of January 12, 2047

Triad

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of April 2, 1931 * Followed by: Lunar eclipse of December 2, 2104

Lunar eclipses of 2016–2020

Saros 124

Tritos series

Inex series

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).Mathematical Astronomy Morsels, Jean Meeus, p.110, Chapter 18, ''The half-saros'' This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 131.

References

External links

*
Hermit eclipse: 2018-01-31

LunarEclipse2018.org
{{Lunar eclipses 2018-01 2018 in science January 2018 in Asia January 2018 in Oceania January 2018 in the United States