Blue moon, supermoon, total lunar eclipse rolled into one, How and when to watch ? , II Immortalize the super blue blood moon with these photo tips , II
- On January 31, the full moon will be the second in a month, making it a blue moon; it'll be at the part of the moon's orbit that defines a supermoon; and there will be a total lunar eclipse.
- The total lunar eclipse is the most exciting for astronomers - it can give the moon a reddish tint, which is why it's sometimes called a blood moon.
- To catch the eclipse, you'll need to look up at a certain time: early in the morning in the US, or later that night in other parts of the world.
Early in the morning on January 31 - if you are in the right part of the world - you'll be able to look up at the sky and see what you could call a "super blue blood moon."
That's a full moon happening at the part of the moon's orbit that's closest to Earth (known as a supermoon). This will also be the second full moon of a calendar month, which is commonly referred to as a blue moon by NASA and others.
Most excitingly, in certain parts of the world it'll be possible to see a total lunar eclipse, which can give the moon a reddish hue when the Earth comes between the sun and our satellite, hence the name "blood moon."
The last time all three of these events happened at the same time was almost 152 years ago. But terms like these can make these occurrences seem more dramatic than they are. Because of where the moon is in its orbit, this full moon will be about 14% brighter than normal - whether or not that qualifies as super is up to you (maybe the moon is always super). And blue moon is not a technical astronomical term - in fact, a different historical definition by the Farmer's Almanac would make that phenomenon more rare than NASA's definition.
But the lunar eclipse component of these three aligned events is fascinating for astronomers, since the rapid temperature changes that occur when the Earth blocks the direct light of the sun can reveal new aspects of the moon's surface.
"The whole character of the moon changes when we observe with a thermal camera during an eclipse," Paul Hayne of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics at the University of Colorado Boulder, wrote in a feature on the upcoming eclipse. "In the dark, many familiar craters and other features can't be seen, and the normally nondescript areas around some craters start to 'glow,' because the rocks there are still warm."
This information could also reveal potential landing sites for future moon expeditions.
When and where to look
To catch the eclipse, you'll need to look up at the right time: early in the morning in North America and the Eastern Pacific, evening for those in the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. (Most of Europe will unfortunately miss this part of the show.)During a lunar eclipse, the moon transitions into partial shadow - penumbra - before going into full shadow - umbra - then back into penumbra, as seen in the graphic below.
The reddish color it takes on has to do with the way that Earth's atmosphere breaks up light - much of the blue gets filtered out before the remaining light makes its way to the moon.
Viewers on the East Coast of the US will only be able to see the start of the time when the darker "umbra" of Earth's shadow covers the moon, at about 6:48 a.m., since the sun will rise shortly after that.
In the western US, the show will be better. For those on central time, NASA reports that the best viewing will be from about 6:15 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., with Earth's reddish shadow clearly visible on the moon before the sun comes up. Mountain time viewers will be able to catch the peak of eclipse at 6:30 a.m. local time. And viewers in California and further west will be able to see the event from start to finish, with totality beginning at 4:51 a.m. PT and ending at 6:05 a.m. PT.
If you're in the right place and you can get up early or stay up late, have a look.
NASA
Global map showing areas of the world that will experience (weather permitting) the Jan. 31, 2018 "super blue blood moon." The eclipse will be visible before sunrise on Jan. 31 for those in North America, Alaska and Hawaii. For those in the Middle East, Asia, eastern Russia, Australia and New Zealand, the "super blue blood moon" can be seen during moonrise the evening of the 31st.
NASA/Bill Ingalls
The rare celestial sight of a super blue blood moon will move across the night sky Jan. 31, sending both professional and amateur shutterbugs reaching for their cameras.
In case you aren't in the know, a supermoon occurs when the moon is at perigee, or the closest point to us during its orbit of Earth. They typically occur a few times a year, and the last one was Jan. 1. The "blood" bit refers to the reddish tinge our satellite takes on during a total lunar eclipse.
There will be no blue hue to the moon, that's just a colloquial name used to reference the second full moon in a single calendar month.So basically, the draw for photographers is to catch the relatively rare sight of the moon wearing a bit of rouge and appearing up to 15 percent larger in the sky than usual. The blue moon part won't show up in photos and has no real scientific significance, but at least you get bragging rights for capturing the conjunction of three rare happenings.
The only supermoon of 2017, as seen worldwide
"Capturing anything in the night sky is confusing to your camera, so there is an element of trial and error," said Bryan O'Neil Hughes, director of product management and outreach for Adobe's Creative Cloud. "There are, however, a series of tips that will assure the best image regardless."
Adobe shared some of Hughes' top pointers for getting a fantastic supermoon shot, which start with getting a tripod or some other way to stabilize your camera. This will assure the sharpest image possible. If it's windy where you're shooting, you may also need to block that breeze, which can often be accomplished by simply standing in just the right spot. Also, if possible, trigger your shutter remotely or with a timer.
If you have advanced photo skills or plan to edit your images, Hughes suggests finding a spot to shoot with minimal light pollution and saving shots as raw files. If your camera has manual controls, use an ISO setting under 1,600 with the shutter nearly or completely wide open.
"Consider shooting in Manual mode; you're looking for detail in the moon and a dark sky," Hughes said. "The latter is easy to control in editing, but if you lose the highlight information, there isn't too much that can be done in post."
Not surprisingly, Hughes also suggests using an image editing program like Adobe's Lightroom CC to make those pics really pop. You can find tutorials for cropping, adjusting light and color and adding other effects and improvements that provide a nice sense of what's possible.
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