As the Moon Arcs Across the Sky …

Sequence showing the Moon descending into eclipse above a NASA building.
California’s NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center photographer Ken Ulbrich takes photos of Super Blue Blood Moon eclipse making a time-lapse composition of the event on January 31. The total lunar eclipse provided a rare opportunity to capture a supermoon, a blue moon and a lunar eclipse at the same time. A supermoon occurs when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit and appearing 14 percent brighter than usual. As the second full moon of the month, this moon is also commonly known as a blue moon, though it will not be blue in appearance. The super blue moon passed through Earth’s shadow and took on a reddish tint, known as a blood moon. This total lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and a full moon form a near-perfect lineup in space. The Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow).
NASA/Ken Ulbrich
February 1, 2018
CreditNASA/Ken Ulbrich
Historical DateJanuary 31, 2018
Language
  • english

It's not just a time-lapse composite image of our Moon as it arcs across the sky, it's a "super blue blood Moon" eclipse!

On Jan. 31, a total lunar eclipse provided a rare opportunity to capture a supermoon, a blood moon and a lunar eclipse all at once. In this composite, the phases of the eclipse form an arc in the sky over NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center’s mission support building.

A supermoon occurs when the Moon is closer to Earth in its orbit and appears about 14 percent brighter than usual. As the second full moon of the month, this moon is also commonly known as a blue moon, though it will not be blue in appearance. The super blue moon passed through Earth’s shadow and took on a reddish tint, known as a blood moon. This total lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth and the full Moon form a near-perfect lineup in space and the Moon passes directly behind the Earth into its umbra (shadow).

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