Sunday’s Super Blood Wolf Moon has been eagerly-anticipated by amateurs and eclipse experts alike. The last lunar eclipse stunned stargazers when the red Moon rose over the globe in July last year. And this weekend’s stunning celestial show – peaking early on Sunday night, January 21 – will be all the more impressive, due to the rarity of Super Blood Wolf Moons.
Sunday night (CET time) will find a Full Moon passing through our planet’s shadow, giving it a blood-curdling rusty crimson colour.
US space agency NASA reports the Moon’s eclipse will hit totality at 10.41pm CET over Missouri.
The lunar eclipse will last for five hours and 12 minutes, while the totality’s duration is only one hour and two minutes.
It is advised to make the most of this incredible eclipse, as the next total lunar eclipse is not until May 2021.
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There will be six lunar eclipses between now and May 2021, including this weekend’s.
But this eclipse of the Moon is the only one achieving totality for more than a year.
And this event has been dubbed ”America’s Eclipse”, as the entire eclipse is visible from start to finish in 48 states.
This makes the event even more special, as only two eclipses have met this criteria in 50 years.
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Eclipse expert Fred Espenak said: “The 2019 January 21 total lunar eclipse is perfectly placed for the Americas and Western Europe, and we will see the entire event from start to finish.”
Next up is a partial lunar eclipse, arriving on July 16, 2019, and this will be followed by four penumbral eclipses.
Penumbral eclipses occur when the Moon transits only through the outer portion of the Earth’s shadow, resulting in a less dramatic celestial spectacle.
A penumbral eclipse does not achieve totality and only eclipse experts with incredibly powerful telescopes will witness a dimming of our Moon’s brightness.
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And totality will last for approximately 15 minutes depending where in the world it is witnessed.
The following Blood Moon will not been see for a very long time, May 16, 2022.
This eclipse will experience totality lasting one hour and 25 minutes over America, Europe and Africa.