Don’t Miss This Celestial Triplet: a Blue Moon, Supermoon and Lunar Eclipse
By Mika McKinnon
smithsonian.com
2 hours ago
On January 31, the Earth, moon and sun’s complex orbital dance will result in an unusual coincidence of events: a blue moon, a supermoon, and a lunar eclipse.
These events all take place thanks to quirks in the moon’s orbit. Though the moon whirls around Earth at an average distance of nearly 239,000 miles, it doesn’t orbit in a perfect circle. Sometimes it’s closer (known as its perigee) and sometime it’s further away (known as its apogee). A supermoon takes place when the sun, moon, and Earth all align during the moon’s closest pass—that is, when the moon’s perigee occurs during a full or new moon.
Read more:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/wake-early-january-31-super-blue-lunar-eclipse-180967903/#wCfv3KBFHEkRqM0k.99
