by Anika LeeVan
Around 11pm on January 20th there was a “Super Blood Wolf Moon” in the sky.
According to accuweather.com, the Super Blood Wolf Moon was a total lunar eclipse where the moon goes through the Earth’s shadow and causes a dark red and orange color.
This event hasn’t happened since December 21, 2010. For the people who missed this one, don’t worry, there should another one in 18 years on January 31st, 2037, CNET.com said.
But around Indiana, it is very hard to see this eclipse. In the Midwest, there are widespread clouds which made it very hard or impossible to see. It is easier to see it down south, like in Texas.
This event is called “Super Blood Wolf Moon” because of how impressive it is and how it only happened three times this century. The term “wolf moon” is a folk name for a moon that happens in the month of January, CNET.com said.
Besides this moon having an interesting color, it’s also a tiny bit closer. This makes it seem at least 10% bigger.
Also according to CNET.com, there are two to five super moons every year. The gap could be anywhere between six months to three years.
This particular “Super Blood Wolf Moon” is one of the three times this moon falls in January, even more of a reason to have seen it.
Unlike most eclipses, no eye protection is needed to look at this moon. It was very hard to miss.
But if people are not in a state where they can see it, there were livestreams they could've watched instead. These events usually last about an hour, stated abc11.com. If people missed this all together, CBS News Online said that there will be four more eclipses to happen in 2019. There was a partial eclipse in Asia and North Pacific on January 5th, a total solar eclipse on July 2nd in South America, and an annular solar eclipse in Saudi Arabia, Asia, India and Australia.
According to Space.com, a solar eclipse occurs when the moon appears to cross in front of the sun. A total solar eclipse is when the disk of the moon blocks 100 percent of the the solar disk. A partial eclipse occurs when the moon covers part of the sun. An annular eclipse is when the moon passes directly in front of the sun and it’s near the point in its elliptical orbit where its farthest from the Earth.
This moon is special because it was the first lunar eclipse that will be visible before midnight, according to Space.com.