In the early morning hours of January 31, 2018, you can witness a TRIFECTA of MOTHER NATURE! A Triple moon event. A BlueMoon. A Blood Moon and A Lunar Eclipse! All in one glorious spectacle – depending on the weather AND whether you can wake up!
Who, What, Where, When, Why, WOW!
The WOW applies if you took the same journalism class or curriculum that I did.
Wake up, especially if you live on the west coast. Those living on the east coast will
be gipped of the finale since dawn will ruin the show.
Gordon Johnston program executive and lunar blogger at NASA Headquarters in Washington DC said if you live in the eastern part of the United States to “Set your alarm early look outside about 5.51 AM. The best time will be about 6.45 AM making sure to have a clear line of sight and look in the west-northwest direction, opposite from where the Asunción will rise”.
In the Central time zone action begins at 4.51 AM with the reddish shadow will appear at 6.15 AM CST, The eclipse will be hard to see because the Sun is rising. The moon will set at 7.00 AM. Your best viewing will be a high place will a clear line of sight looking West.
The show will begin in the Rocky Mountain time zone at 4.48 MST. The peak of the blood moon eclipse is at 6.30 AM MST.
California and Western Canada will see the show start to finish. Have your seat in your spot by 3.48 PST. The eclipses will begin at 4.51 AM PST.
You can read Gordon Johnston’s blog at Moon.NASA,gov
The P’s and Q’s
1. The moon will be 14% brighter because it will be at its perigee when it is closest to the earth.
2. A blue moon is so called when it is the second full moon in a month. This one is being stolen from February. No full moon this month. Sorry.
3. A blood moon refers to the color the moon takes on when it enters a total lunar eclipse. The moon moves entirely within the earth’s shadow. The sun, moon, and earth must be in alignment for this to occur.
Review: supermoon – the moon is at its closest to the earth; blue moon – two full moons in one month; blood moon – reddish color when the moon is in earth’s shadow; lunar eclipse – the moon is entirely within the shadow of the earth.
Test Question: When was the last time this triple whammy occurred?
One hundred and fifty years ago!
On January 1st we had the Wolf Moon
On January 31st we will have a Super Blue Blood Moon
On March 1st we will a full Worm Moon
On March 31st we will have a full Pink Blue Moon
On April 29th we will have a full Flower Moon
On May 29th we will have a full Strawberry Moon
On June 28 is a full Buck Moon
On July 27th is a full Sturgeon Moon
On August 26th is a full Corn Moon
On September 24th is a full Harvest Moon
On October 24 is a full Hunter’s Moon
On November 23 is a full Beaver Moon
On December 22 is a full Cold Moon
Enjoy these Spectacles of Space!
Craig
150 years ago, January 1918 from Scientific American
Auto Dreams
“It’s more or less true—no one really knows anything about the future. So here goes, for a try. The automobile of the future will be weather-tight. Probably it will be all glass—sides, front, rear, and roof. If a malleable glass is ever made, the frame may be dispensed with, but nobody has discovered malleable glass, to date! In the future, the car with the steering wheel will be as obsolete as the car with the hand pump for gas or oil is today! Driving will be done from a small control board, which can be held in the lap. It will be connected to the mechanism by a flexible electric cable. A small finger lever, not a wheel, will guide the car.”
