Super Blue Moon’ Jan 30, 2018

       

A rare phenomena occurred last night and what is probably rarer is that I managed to photograph it – a Super Blue Blood Moon. Although the forecast was for the moon to be visible from 5pm yesterday until 8am this morning, the skies above Naas were quite cloudy except for an hour around midnight.

A ‘Super Moon’ is simply a moon that is closer to the Earth than normal. As a result, it appears bigger and brighter in the sky.
A ‘Blue Moon’ is also simple and means the second full moon in a calendar month.

Although we use the phrase “once in a blue moon” to indicate rare occurrences, blue moons are not quite as rare as the famous phrase suggests: the next Super Blue moon is due to appear on March 31. However, the next one after that is October 2, 2020.

Last night’s moon was also be classed as a ‘Blood Moon’

which is when sunlight passes through the atmosphere above the Earth, casting a dark colour across the surface of the moon and happens thanks to a total lunar eclipse across Australia, Asia and parts of the USA. As is the case with all total lunar eclipses, the Earth will cast a darkened red-tinted shadow across the face of its natural satellite, hence the term “blood moon.”

This is quite a rare phenomena as the last ‘Super Blue Blood Moon’ happened in 1866, and according to Astronomy Ireland’s David Moore it won’t happen again until 2037.

We in Ireland witnessed the Super and the Blue aspects of the Moon last night but the Blood aspect was not visible to the Irish observer

Great to get some photos as the moon appeared through the clouds over the trees out back.

  

Author: Breda Fay

I'm retired since end August 2016 and loving the new life! More time now for family and friends and to explore craft, history, travel and certainly more of a chance for, me-time. To paraphrase Seuss: I've no tears that (teaching) is over; but many smiles that it happened!

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