LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — The super, blood, wolf moon will appear this weekend! The entire United States has front row seats to see, and Sunday night, Jan. 20 is when it will happen.
Each word in its name describes a different part of the viewing experience.
SUPER
Super refers to a super moon, this means the moon will appear larger. The moon’s orbit around the Earth is not a perfect circle. January’s full moon just so happens to be when the moon is in a point along its orbit closer to the earth.
BLOOD
The ‘blood’ refers to the red-orange tint the moon appears to have as a result of the total eclipse. In reality, it is just the earth casting a shadow on the moons surface. The color comes from the sun’s light bending through the earth’s atmosphere and hitting the moon.
WOLF
The ‘wolf’ part comes from the name traditionally given to the January full moon. Put it all of these events together and you get the rare super blood wolf moon!
To view it, look toward the E/SE sky Sunday night, Jan. 20 between 10:41 p.m. and 11:43 p.m. That is when you might notice the reddish tint.
The whole eclipse lasts from 9:35 p.m. to 12:51 a.m. The rain and cloud cover should clear out just in time! It will be very cold, so bundle up!
This total lunar eclipse will be the last one until May 2021 and the last one visible from the United States until 2022.