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Lunar Eclipse of a Super Blue Moon in Gorontalo
Lunar eclipse of a super blue moon was an event not to be missed by anyone in Indonesia on 31 January 2018.
Triple Celestial Event
On 1 January 2018 a full moon appeared in the world’s night skies. A second full moon during the same month rose on 31 January. Astronomers call this rare occurrence a blue moon. Hence the expression in English of a rare event, “once in a blue moon.”
Usually, the moon is 384,400 kilometers from the Earth. However, its orbit is not uniform. Sometimes the moon can be merely 358,993 kilometers away. That means it is more than 25,000 kilometers closer. At that time, the moon appears up to 14 percent larger. Additionally, it can appear 30 percent brighter to the naked eye. This rare occurrence is a super moon. On 31 January 2018, the super moon coincided with the blue moon.
Moreover, on the same date, the blue super moon also turned red. This happened when it became a blood moon as it eclipsed.
Eclipse of a Rare Moon
A lunar eclipse happens when a full moon travels into the shadow of the Earth relative to the sun. During a lunar eclipse, the moon turns red. Hence the name blood moon. The red is actually the projection of all the sunrises and sunsets onto the surface of the moon.
Gorontalo’s Total Lunar Eclipse
In Gorontalo
, the super moon appeared over the mountains at 1855 hours local time (WITA). Miguel’s Diving enjoyed night diving under the full moon. After the divers surfaced, the lunar eclipse began. The first photo sequence shows the view of the night sky at 2032 and 2047 hours. The total eclipse lasted for over an hour. The second photo sequence shows the blood moon at 2212 hours. When the moon is in eclipse, it is indeed red! At 2232 the moon began to emerge from the shadow. By 2333 hours the super moon had returned. The last time there occurred an eclipse of a super blue moon was 152 years ago.
Don’t wait until the next super blue lunar eclipse to dive in Gorontalo. We encourage you to book your dive trip with us before then!
