What is a super blue blood moon?

The whole world was talking about the elusive 'super blue blood moon' this week - but what do all these words mean?

This full moon was special for three reasons:

1. it was the third in a series of 'supermoons', which means the moon was closer to the Earth in its orbit and appeared bigger and brighter than usual. Supermoons appear around 15% bigger and 30% brighter than a normal full moon;

2. it was the second full moon of the month (January), which is commonly known as a blue moon;

3. the moon also passed through Earth's shadow, giving viewers in some locations a total lunar eclipse. Earth's shadow gave the moon a red tint, hence the name 'blood moon'.

This spectacle was rare - the last time this visibly occurred was 1982, although the last time this was seen in North America was 1866!

NASA predict this triple event to occur next in December 2028.

References

• NASA - https://www.nasa.gov/feature/super-blue-blood-moon-coming-jan-31