During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears red because the light of the Sun no longer directly illuminates it, since Earth is passing in between the Moon and Sun
New Delhi: Skygazers and astronomers had a treat on Monday night as the very rare super blood wolf moon lit up the sky. People in Europe, Africa and the Americas braved the cold weather to get a glimpse of the spectacular celestial event.
The full moon which appeared bigger than normal because it is closer to the Earth — about 222,000 miles (358,000 kilometers) — appeared copper reddish.
Also, according to the Farmers’ Almanac, the fact that wolves used to howl in hunger outside villages gave the wolf moon nickname.
During a lunar eclipse, the Moon appears red because the light of the Sun no longer directly illuminates it, since Earth is passing in between the Moon and Sun.
"The colour is due to Rayleigh scattering -- where the Sun's blue light is scattered off molecules in Earth's atmosphere -- which also happens at sunsets," explained the Royal Astronomical Society of Britain.
Check out some pictures Twitter users shared here.
super blood wolf moon from Fort Collins, CO. We expected cloudy skies, got this instead. #timeanddatelive #bloodmoon2019 #eclipse2019 #supermoon2019 Outside the Madison-Macdonald Observatory at CSU! pic.twitter.com/gFkSK9Z7ec
— Anna Meiser (@gunsxrosaries) January 21, 2019
Just took this with my telescope and iPhone. #BloodWolfMoon #bloodmoon2019 pic.twitter.com/nNvGlTNbLw
— Hunter Johnston (@HunterJohnston_) January 21, 2019
it was very, very cold - but very, very pretty ❤️#bloodmoon2019 pic.twitter.com/qyRvGnBCto
— Jenna (@jennagracex) January 21, 2019
#BloodMoon2019
— Sparky'sCove (@WebTrekker) January 21, 2019
A few hours before the actual Blood Moon should occur. pic.twitter.com/JOljoXhyyE
This is was what I woke up to! #bloodmoon2019 #sweden pic.twitter.com/nJgY8EAXjg
— DexterTheCat (@DexterTheCatSwe) January 21, 2019
Space is cool, man. #lunareclipse2019 #bloodmoon2019 pic.twitter.com/ActQGfFxUM
— Stache (@StacheESQ) January 21, 2019
my hands are frozen but I got it. Perfectly clear night for it. #bloodmoon2019 #bloodmoon pic.twitter.com/bcNAHd6CPi
— Jason Lewis (@cbotnyse) January 21, 2019
Worth getting up at 4am for!#gower#clearskies##bloodmoon2019 #BloodMoonEclipse @DerekTheWeather @metoffice @ntorrancejones pic.twitter.com/UztoFkSZBr
— Andrea Gully (@Andreajcase) January 21, 2019
Last Updated Jan 21, 2019, 4:34 PM IST