Photo by Alexandre Godreau/Unsplash
It’s been more than 150 years since the last one occurred — but most of us in Chattanooga won’t see the best part.
“It” is the astronomical trifecta in which the moon is a Blue Moon (the second full moon in a month and no, it’s not really blue), a Supermoon (the moon is as close to the Earth as it will get this year) and a lunar eclipse. The last time this trio of events occurred was 1866. Andrew Johnson was president and things went badly for him president-wise, but we’re not going to link the two. The next time it happens is 10 years from now on Dec. 31, 2028.
During the eclipse, the Earth is between the moon and the sun, so the Earth’s shadow passes across the moon. When this happens, the moon can take on a copper-ish color and has been called a “Blood Moon,” although that term is not used by astronomers.
The celestial lineup takes place overnight Wednesday into the early morning with peak viewing times in our area around 5:50 a.m. In Chattanooga, we’ll be able to see the moon across the sky like we always can but will be treated to a partial lunar eclipse as the moon becomes partially eclipsed by the Earth’s shadow. However, to see the full lunar eclipse you’ll have to go far west, like Alaska or Hawaii.
For your best shot of seeing even a bit of it around here, look west just as the moon is setting or the sun is rising. No matter what, though, you’ll only get a quick glimpse, if you see any at all.
Still, the moon is at its perigee, aka, closest to Earth, so it will look about 12 to 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than normal. We’ve already seen one because the first moon of January was a Supermoon, too.
Click here for more information and a map of the best viewing locations.
