2019: What is super blood wolf moon eclipse?

A rare total lunar eclipse on January 20 combining with supermoon will result in a phenomenon, that the astrophysicist call a ‘super blood wolf moon’.

The moon, Earth and sun will line up this weekend for the only complete lunar eclipse of 2019. At the same time, the moon will be ever so closer to Earth and appear slightly bigger and brighter than a usual supermoon.

The partial eclipse will begin around 10:34 pm EST Sunday (08:34 am PST Monday). The total eclipse, lasting 62 minutes, will start at 11:41 pm EST Sunday (09:41 am PST Monday).

The full experience, from the start of the partial eclipse to the end, will last 3 hours and 17 minutes, according to Space.com.

The entire eclipse will be visible in North and South America, as well as Greenland, Iceland, Ireland, Great Britain, Norway, Sweden, Portugal and the French and Spanish coasts.

During totality, the moon will look red because of sunlight scattering off Earth's atmosphere. That's why an eclipsed moon is sometimes known as a blood moon. (In January, the full moon is also sometimes known as the wolf moon or great spirit moon.)

As for full-moon supermoons, this will be the first of three this year. The upcoming supermoon will be about 222,000 miles (357,300 kilometers) away while the February 19 supermoon will be a bit closer and the one in March 20 will be the farthest.

According to experts, “this lunar phenomenon is particularly good because the duration of the total eclipse is unusually long”.