January 1st and 31st Will Bring Extra-Bright Supermoons
The new year starts off with a spectacular show and a unique celestial event as two full moons line up in the same calendar month, which only occurs once every two to three years. On January 1st, the second of three supermoons will occur as the moon swings closest to the Earth, 30,000 miles closer than at its farthest point! The moon will appear brighter and slightly larger than normal. Once January 31st rolls around, the moon will still be close, but will also get caught in the Earth's shadow, giving the moon a red glow. That will simultaneously be a Blue Moon (second in the month), Blood Moon (colored red), and a Super Moon (close to the Earth), but be advised that you'll have to wake up by 5:51am on January 31 if you want to catch a glimpse of it.
Tonight’s supermoon will appear 14% bigger and 30% brighter than the July 27 full Moon, occurring at the farthest point in the Moon's orbit. Use the interactive Dial-A-Moon to see the difference in apparent size. https://t.co/s6Egk9vvTj pic.twitter.com/0a8R71FsCq
— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) January 1, 2018
The "feels like" temperature is currently 9°F, but the weather will be clear, so take a walk around the block to warm yourself up and soak up some lunar rays from the first of two January supermoons. 🌝
Learn more about the astronomy behind this set of full moons in this NASA video:
