ONCE IN A LIFETIME: Wednesday night brought a lot of buzz to Panaji and all across Goa. The observatory at Junta House, run by the Association of Friends of Astronomy (AFA) had as many as 200 enthusiasts, mostly in the age group of 4-12 years, thronging for a look at the rare celestial treat. It’s a phenomenon that has not occurred in more than 150 years on the same night—a blue moon, a super moon, a blood moon and a total lunar eclipse. NASA coined the spectacle a ‘super blue blood moon’.
If you did not catch it this time around, the next closest super moon of the century will be on December 6, 2052. A blue moon event occurs when there are two full moons in one month. Erin Viegas, an astronomy enthusiast said, “The second full moon that we see in January is actually the February moon. Which means there will be no full moon in February.” A super moon event occurs when a full moon is at the closest point in its monthly orbit around the earth. There is a connection to the other two events—total lunar eclipse and the blood moon.
A total lunar eclipse can happen only when the sun, earth and full moon are in a perfect line and in that order. With this alignment, the full moon is completely covered in earth's shadow. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon may appear ‘blood red’. This hue occurs since the moon is covered by earth's shadow. The moon’s brightness remains constant, but because the super moon is much closer to earth, it can appear up to 14 per cent larger and up to 30 per cent brighter than normal.
While there has been media speculation about the effects of the moon on natural disasters on earth, scientists are of the view that even at its most powerful, this force is relatively weak.
—Mackelroy Barreto
Originally published at: Mackelroy Barreto: Times of India Reporter
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