Astronomical Heads-Up: Total Lunar Eclipse "Trifecta" on January 31st

Will we need special glasses for viewing?

Yes--LynDoor Industries™ polarized moonglasses!

Good news!

We are on the cusp of releasing our latest, revolutionary VR viewing device that will let you watch these astronomical events in real time, and without those pesky goggles and glasses.

Here is a sneak peek of our prototype model.

Shameless self promotion!

I believe we're supposed to miss it completely by an hour or so here.

Not that it really matters, since mother nature usually conspires to shield us from the sight of any exciting astronomical events with dense clouds or fog. Our eyes are to be fixed dutifully upon the humble ground... or else a glowing screen of one sort or another!!! Yes sign me up, LynDoor.

Total Lunar Eclipse on January 31, 2018 – Where and When to See

I think it's cool that the supermoon eclipse occurs at the moon's perigee. It will be easier to see with the naked eye and is more impressive.

The fact that it's the second full moon in a calendar month, a blue moon, has always seemed to me to be a bit artificial. The moon looks the same regardless of what the calendar says.

So, would the supermoon eclipse normally last longer than other eclipses? The earth's shadow is larger closer to the earth but the moon moves faster.

The width of the earth's shadow (the umbra) decreases by about 70 miles for every 1000 miles from the earth. At the moon's distance, it has decreased to about 6000 miles.

According to Kepler, the conservation of angular momentum (distance x velocity) is constant, so the moon's velocity is inversely proportional to its distance.

You can calculate the maximum totality time by subtracting the width of the umbra minus the diameter of the moon and dividing this by the moon's velocity.

If you run the numbers, it turns out that totality is shorter for a supermoon eclipse because the greater velocity is more significant than the larger width of the umbra as shown in the plots below. (The red dots represent perigee and apogee of the moon's orbit.)

Pictures? Anyone?

It was 10 am here, 8 C fully overcast and raining. But I woulda.... !!

I slept in. I went out at 9:00 AM and all I saw was sunshine.

Then I went back inside.

I hear the view was great in Arizona, Utah... most of your places. Some nice ones here:

http://spaceweathergallery.com/

Yes, the wife woke me before she went off to work, but I went back to sleep.

I'm a lazy, worthless lout.