In the Sky this Week – January 30, 2018
Mars, Saturn and Jupiter are all visible in the southern predawn sky; the gap between Mars and Jupiter growing as Mars gets closer to Saturn each morning. Southern sky before dawn, Jan. 30, 2018. Credit: Stellarium / Bob Trembley. The Moon The Moon will be full on the 31st, and with it will come a total lunar eclipse. The total phase of this lunar eclipse will be visible in large parts of US, Russia, Asia, northeastern Europe, the Indian Ocean, Australia, and the Pacific. Hawaii will get an almost perfect view of totality. I couldn’t agree more with this Wired article about the over-use of media-hyped terms for astronomical events like this eclipse. Lunar eclipses are sometimes called “Blood Moons.” Sunlight gets filtered and refracted by the Earth’s atmosphere; when the Moon passes through the Earth’s shadow, it takes on a red-orangeish hue. A Supermoon is when the full Moon is at perigee (its closest approach to Earth). The Moon … Continue reading →