Today as we enter the last day of January 2018, get prepared to see a lunar eclipse which will be seen after a long gap of 32 years, while it will be seen in the United States after one and half century or 152 years. This will be a unique event which will be a combination of a blue moon, red moon and full lunar eclipse. Let us see why the terms blue and red or blood are used for such an eclipse.

Blood/Red:

We all know that moon does not have light of its own but reflects the light of the closest star of our Milky Way namely our very own Sun. So when the lunar eclipse occurs the light from the Earth, which is also from the Sun, gets scattered into its spectrum colours (VIBGYOR) and the extreme end (Red) reaches the Moon giving it a reddish black colour, hence the name Blood Red Moon.

Blue:

Full moon occurs two times a month as per the English calendar and the second one is known as blue moon which is also related to the popular idiom which says – once in a blue moon

Super:

Sometimes the full moon is larger than its usual size which occurs due to its position which will be closest to Earth in its orbit

So you can see the significance of super, blood, red and blue moon so let us look at timings for this event at various places

India

5.18pm – 6.21pm (Partial eclipse)

6.21pm – 7.37pm (Full eclipse)

7.37pm – 8.41pm (Partial eclipse)

United States

4.51am – 6.05am (Full eclipse)

Can I see this?

Unlike a solar eclipse  you dont need to be afraid of seeing this eclipse with naked eye so just go ahead and enjoy

Please also see this video