Tuesday January 22, 2019:
On the night of Sunday January 20th, a special total lunar eclipse was visible throughout North America. This eclipse occurred during the supermoon at which the moon appeared slightly larger the usual. Such an event occurs when the Full Moon roughly matches the time when it is at perigee, closest to Earth (357,000 km). (Average distance is 383,000 km.) Combine that with the eclipse and you get the Super Blood Wolf Moon. "Blood" comes from the reddening of the moon during eclipse. As you may realize, this kind of event is rare. The peak of the eclipse happened at 12:12 am EST Monday January 21st. The next total lunar eclipse will take place on May 26, 2021, but will not be viewable to North America. Next viewable one is on May 16, 2022. Next moon event is the total solar eclipse on July 2nd this summer (southern hemisphere winter) in Chile and Argentina. Happy Moon watching!
Lunar Eclipse: Sun - Earth - Moon (Earth casts shadow on Moon.)
Solar Eclipse: Sun - Moon - Earth (Moon casts shadow on Earth.)
Additional Images from Beginning to Peak
Inspire to imagine, explore, and capture the moment (space edition)