Here's how to watch the last 'blood moon' eclipse of the decade
Prepare to cast your eyes over a blood-red object as it eerily illuminates the night sky late Sunday.
The "super blood wolf moon" will start making its way across the Space Coast sky at 9:36 p.m. on Jan. 20 and last until the early hours of Jan. 21.
Why such a weird name for a full moon? According to National Geographic, the January full moon, also known as the "wolf moon" because of the name Native Americans and medieval Europeans gave it, will be a supermoon and a total lunar eclipse.
A supermoon occurs when the moon is slightly closer to Earth, making the moon look bigger than normal.
“The moon’s orbit is elliptical, which means that it’s not quite a circle, so sometimes it’s a little bit closer to Earth and sometimes it’s a little bit farther away," Daniel Batcheldor, head of physics and space sciences at Florida Institute of Technology said. "That makes its apparent diameter in the sky, how big it looks, change.”
Though they don't happen every full moon, supermoons do occur more often than lunar eclipses.
Origin of Lunar Eclipses
Eclipses occur when an object like the moon or Earth moves into the shadow of the other object. On Earth, observers can witness two kinds of eclipses: solar and lunar.
Lunar eclipses result when the Earth moves between the sun and the moon, blocking the sunlight normally reflected by the moon, according to NASA.
When the moon completely enters the Earth's shadow, a total lunar eclipse occurs. The effect for observers down below is a "blood moon" — when the moon appears red because of the sunlight passing through the Earth's atmosphere.
"If you were standing on the surface of the moon looking back at the Earth, you would be seeing the Earth completely passing in front of the sun and you would see a red brim around the Earth," Batcheldor said. "What you would be seeing is all of the sunrises and sunsets that are happening all around the Earth at the same time."
Lunar eclipses also helped ancient scientists measure the distance of the moon several thousand years ago, according to the Library of Congress.
"We’ve actually known the distance to the moon for quite a long time based on the effects that are seen during the passage of the moon through the Earth’s shadow,” Batcheldor said.
Where and when to watch
The bright red object will appear over the entire United States this weekend for the first time since Dec. 21, 2010, and will be visible to anyone as long as there are clear skies, according to AccuWeather.
Space Coast residents can expect favorable viewing conditions as showers and thunderstorms expected early Sunday will clear by mid-afternoon.
Those who want to make a full night out of the event can use beach access points in Cape Canaveral. Batcheldor also recommends using a pair of binoculars to get a better view.
The first phase of the eclipse will begin at 9:36 p.m. and reach its peak at 12:12 a.m. The event will last until 2:48 a.m., according to AccuWeather.
How to get a photo of the super blood moon
Anyone wanting to practice their photography skills should take advantage of the astronomical event happening this weekend since the next total lunar eclipse hitting the U.S. won't happen until May 26, 2021.
NASA recommends using a tripod to get sharper images as well as the camera's self-timer or using a shutter release cable.
Amateur astrophotographers should adjust their camera's white balance for daylight and try a fast shutter speed with a small aperture. NASA also tells photographers to zoom in their camera in order to avoid having a tiny white dot in the photo.
Continue practicing until you get the desired picture and enjoy the rest of the astronomical phenomenon.
"One of the things that is particularly interesting with this lunar event, is that it’s getting people engaged with the moon early in the year during the 50th anniversary since the first landing of humans on the surface of the moon," Batcheldor said.
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