Photo credit: Fernando Sanchez
May feel like a distant memory now, but 2018 began with a pretty spectacular moon back on the first night of the year.
The next celestial phenomenon involving Earth’s only satellite is almost upon us, and it’s going to be something special. The night of January 31 will bring not one, not two, not three, but FOUR lunar events all rolled into one. A full moon, a total lunar eclipse, a blue moon, and a supermoon will happen all on the same night.
These events are quite common by themselves (a full moon occurs every 29.5 days, for instance), but all four on the one night is pretty unusual.
Sky watchers across Europe will only three of the events, as the eclipse itself will only be visible from parts of Asia, Australia, the Pacific, and North America due to the Moon’s current position.
Still, the night of January 31 is shaping up to be pretty special for Astronomy aficionados.