LUNAR ECLIPSE 2018
The first lunar eclipse this year is going to be a rare celestial phenomenon which is to occur today. A blue moon (a second full moon in a calendar month), a super moon (when the moon is unusually close to Earth, making it bigger and brighter) and a blood moon (a moment during an eclipse when the moon appears red) will all coincide. This will take place for the first time since 1866. As the three lunar phenomenon are coinciding, NASA has tagged the rare spectacle as the "Super Blue Blood Moon" which will be visible in large parts of the US, north-eastern Europe, Russia, Asia, the Indian Ocean, the Pacific, and Australia.
India and other parts of the world is witnessing this super moon and total lunar eclipse as well. This lunar trifecta is occuring after many years. The event will be visible best in the western half of the US and Canada before the moon sets early, and across the Pacific into Asia as the moon rises tonight.
A blue moon means it is the second full moon to occur in a month; a supermoon means a full moon which is closest to the Earth. It is the third in a series of “supermoons,” when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit — known as perigee — and appears about 14 per cent brighter than usual. This is also a total lunar eclipse where Earth casts a shadow on the moon’s surface and blocks the sunlight which the moon would have reflected. However, the satellite takes on a reddish tint, because of how Earth’s atmosphere will allow red wavelengths to pass. Thus it is also called a blood moon.
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