Americans in the West were treated to a rare astronomical event early in the morning on January 31st - a super blue blood moon. It's a colorful description of three separate lunar phenomena occurring simultaneously.
A supermoon describes when Earth's sole natural satellite is at perigee, the point on its elliptical orbit when it's physically closest to our planet.
A blue moon can describe either the second full moon in one month - Tuesday's case - or the third full moon in a three month season that has four full moons.
Finally, a blood moon describes the moon's color as it passes through Earth's dark inner shadow, or umbra, during a total lunar eclipse. The sun's filtered and refracted light through our planet's atmosphere makes the moon glow red.
The event was indeed rare, being the first super blue blood moon in the United States in 150 years. But Americans don't have to wait that long for the next one, which occurs again on our continent in 2037.
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| Super blue moon in partial eclipse. In this exposure, its surface contours are visible in the Earth's shadow but not in the direct sunlight. |
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| Super blue moon in partial eclipse. In this exposure, its surface contours are visible in the Earth's shadow which has become distinctly red or blood. |
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| Super blue blood moon in almost total eclipse. |
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| Super blue blood moon in full eclipse. |
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| 34 minute sequential composite of Phoenix' Jan. 31st, 2018 super blue blood moon. |
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| Additional 34 minute sequential composite of Phoenix' Jan. 31st, 2018 super blue blood moon. See you again in 2037! |
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