The January sky is to host the first blue moon of the year tomorrow evening, January 31st. The first full moon happened as the year began, and the second full moon in the month is about to arrive - making it a blue moon.
Also this full moon will be happening very close to the moon’s perigee (closest in orbit to the earth) so it has been labelled a super moon as it’s 15,000 miles closer to earth, appearing about 14% larger and 30% brighter than when at its apogee.
The mixture of a blue moon, a supermoon and a blood moon is rare, but is called a Super Blue Blood Moon but this blood designation will only be visible in areas of the world that will witness an eclipse: western North America, Asia, the Middle East, Russia and Australia.
During the eclipse, the moon will glide into Earth's shadow, gradually turning the white disk of light to orange or red. The alignment of the sun, moon and Earth will last one hour and 16 minutes, visible before dawn across the western United States and Canada. Those in the Middle East, Asia, eastern Russia, Australia and New Zealand should look for it in the evening, as the moon rises.
If you miss Wednesday's blue moon, you won't have to wait that long to see another as the second, and the only other blue moon of 2018, will arrive on March 31st - it just won't be of the super blood variety.
Why two in one month?
If the moon is full early in a month containing at least 30 days, two full moons may occur in the same calendar month. Such timings occur on average once every two-and-a-half years. In rare cases the timing will be such that February misses out altogether with the two full moons in January being followed by two in March. This is the case in 2018, a situation that happens roughly four times every century.
With all this going on, it's fingers crossed for a clear night...
