A total lunar eclipse occurred on 31 January 2018. The Moon was near its perigee on 30 January and as such may be described as a "supermoon", when the Moon's distance from the Earth is less than 360,000 km (223,694 miles). The previous supermoon lunar eclipse was in September 2015.^[1]

During the total lunar eclipse of Wednesday, 31 January 2018, the Moon was 360,202 km (only 202 km to be a Super Full Moon) (223,819 mi) from the Earth. A blue moon occurs because there are 2 full moons in the same calendar month, or if there are 4 full moons in the same season (third of four is blue moon). As this supermoon was also a blue moon (the second full moon in a calendar month), it was referred to as a "super blue blood moon"; "blood" refers to the typical red color of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse. The 31 January, 2018 lunar event was called 'Trifecta'.^[2] This coincidence last occurred on 30 December 1982 for the eastern hemisphere,^[3] and otherwise before that on 31 March 1866.^[4]^[5] The next occurrence will be on 31 January 2037, one metonic cycle (19 years) later.

Background

Main article: Lunar eclipse

A lunar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes within Earth's umbra (shadow). As the eclipse begins, Earth's shadow first darkens the Moon slightly. Then, the shadow begins to "cover" part of the Moon, turning it a dark red-brown color (typically – the color can vary based on atmospheric conditions). The Moon appears to be reddish because of Rayleigh scattering (the same effect that causes sunsets to appear reddish) and the refraction of that light by Earth's atmosphere into its umbra.^[6]

The following simulation shows the approximate appearance of the Moon passing through Earth's shadow. The northern portion of the Moon is closest to the center of the shadow, making it darkest and reddest in appearance.

"Super blue blood moon"

This was a "supermoon", as the Moon was near to its closest distance to earth in its elliptical orbit, making it 7% larger in apparent diameter or 14% larger in area, than an average full moon. The previous supermoon lunar eclipse was the September 2015 lunar eclipse.^[1]

The full moon of 31 January 2018 was the second full moon that calendar month (in most time zones), making it, under one definition of the term, a "blue moon".

Additionally referencing the orange or red "blood" colors that occur during a lunar eclipse, media sources described the event as a "super blue blood Moon".^[7]

Characteristics

Visibility

The Pacific Ocean was turned toward the Moon at the time of the eclipse. Central and eastern Asia (including most of Siberia), Philippines, Indonesia, New Zealand and most of Australia got a good view of this moon show in the evening sky. For Western Asia, the Indian subcontinent, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the eclipse was underway as the moon rose.^[8]

Along the U.S. West Coast, the total phase began at 4:51 a.m. PST. The further east, the closer the start of the partial phases coincided with moonset. Along the U.S. Atlantic Seaboard, for instance, the Moon had only just begun to enter the darkest part of Earth's shadow, the umbra, at 6:48 a.m. EST when it disappeared from view below the west-northwest horizon. The duration of the total phase was 77 minutes, with the Moon tracking through the southern part of the Earth's shadow. During totality, the Moon's lower limb appeared brighter than the dark upper limb.^[8]


Visibility map

Timing

Event timing by time zone
Eclipse	HST	AKST	PST	MST	CST	EST	UTC	MSK	IST	ICT	CST	JST	AEDT	NZDT
Zone from UTC	−10 h	−9 h	−8 h	−7 h	−6 h	−5 h	0 h	+3 h	+5½ h	+7 h	+8 h	+9 h	+11 h	+13 h
Penumbral eclipse begins	00:51	01:51	02:51	03:51	04:51	05:51	10:51	13:51	—	17:51	18:51	19:51	21:51	23:51
Partial eclipse begins	01:48	02:48	03:48	04:48	05:48	06:48	11:48	14:48	17:18	18:48	19:48	20:48	22:48	00:48
Total eclipse begins	02:52	03:52	04:52	05:52	06:52	—	12:52	15:52	18:22	19:52	20:52	21:52	23:52	01:52
Mid-eclipse	03:30	04:30	05:30	06:30	—	—	13:30	16:30	19:00	20:30	21:30	22:30	00:30	02:30
Total eclipse ends	04:08	05:08	06:08	07:08	—	—	14:08	17:08	19:38	21:08	22:08	23:08	01:08	03:08
Partial eclipse ends	05:11	06:11	07:11	—	—	—	15:11	18:11	20:41	22:11	23:11	00:11	02:11	04:11
Penumbral eclipse ends	06:08	07:08	—	—	—	—	16:08	19:08	21:38	23:08	00:08	01:08	03:08	05:08

Example in Aichi Prefecture, Japan:
1. Penumbral lunar eclipse 20:23 (JST)
2. Partial lunar eclipse 21:13 (JST)
3. Partial lunar eclipse 21:43 (JST)
4. Total lunar eclipse (blood moon) 21:55 (JST)

Gallery

North America

Fayetteville, North Carolina, 11:36 UTC
Partial from Naval Base Point Loma, California
Melbourne, Florida, 12:00 UTC
Jacksonville, Florida, 12:10 UTC
Macon, Georgia, 12:11 UTC
Tula, Tamaulipas, 12:29 UTC
Houston, Texas, 12:41 UTC
Dallas, Texas, 12:51 UTC
Totality from Southern California, 12:58 UTC
Denver, Colorado, 12:59 UTC
Yellowstone National Park, 13:03 UTC
Placitas, New Mexico, 13:35 UTC
Redwood City, California, 13:43 UTC
Novato, California, 14:13 UTC
Landers, California at dawn
Joshua Tree, California

Asia and Middle East

Partial from Ilagan, Isabela
Hiroshima, Japan, 11:43 UTC
Shinjyuku, Tokyo, 12:52 UTC
Chiang Mai, Thailand, 12:57 UTC
Chōfu, Tokyo, 13:22 UTC
Guangzhou, China, 13:50 UTC
Kerala, India, 14:03 UTC
Novosibirsk, Russia, 14:06 UTC
George Town, Malaysia, 14:16 UTC
Singapore, 14:32 UTC
From Kuwait at moonrise, 15:03 UTC
Nanjing, China, 15:10 UTC
From Russian Far East

Oceania

Related eclipses

Eclipses of 2018

The January 2018 lunar eclipse is the first ascending node eclipse of the lunar eclipse series sets from 2016 to 2020. It is also part of Saros cycle 124.

Lunar eclipse series sets from 2016–2020
Descending node				Ascending node
Saros	Date	Type Viewing	Gamma	Saros	Date Viewing	Type Chart	Gamma
109	2016 Aug 18	Penumbral	1.56406	114	2017 Feb 11	Penumbral	−1.02548
119	2017 Aug 07	Partial	0.86690	124	2018 Jan 31	Total	−0.30143
129	2018 Jul 27	Total	0.11681	134	2019 Jan 21	Total	0.36842
139	2019 Jul 16	Partial	−0.64300	144	2020 Jan 10	Penumbral	1.07270
149	2020 Jul 05	Penumbral	−1.36387

Last set	2016 Sep 16			Last set	2016 Mar 23

Next set	2020 Jun 05			Next set	2020 Nov 30

A similar eclipse occurs on 31 January 2037, one metonic cycle of 19 years in the future.

Half-Saros cycle

A lunar eclipse will be preceded and followed by solar eclipses by 9 years and 5.5 days (a half saros).^[9] This lunar eclipse is related to two annular solar eclipses of Solar Saros 131.