Blood Moon

Tonight is the Blood Moon or Hunter's Moon; the first full moon of Autumn. It is also the third super moon in a row, although no one seems to be hyping that fact in the news like they were during the last two full moons.

September Super Moon, Eclipse & the Harvest Moon

This year's Harvest moon is a little different from most other full moon. Tonight's full moon is also a super moon. In areas with clear skies the moon should appear around 30% brighter than a typical full moon. Also, a total lunar eclipse is finishing up for those lucky enough to see it. I was in a location this evening where the eclipse was mostly over before the moon was high enough in the sky to see.

August Supermoon

Tonight is the beginning of three consecutive "supermooons." For those that don't remember, a supermoon is a full moon when the moon is near its closest point to the earth, making the moon appear slightly larger and brighter than average.

Tonight's moon is also called the Sturgeon Moon, being the last full moon of the summer. On September 27th we'll the first full moon of fall which is also called the Harvest Moon, and it will also be a lunar eclipse.

Once in a Blue Moon...

You know the phrase "once in a blue moon"? Well at precisely 3:43am, today the 31st of July 2015, the moon will be perfectly full. This makes it the second full moon of the month, which is the definition of a blue moon. The last blue moon was in August 2012 and the next will be in January 2018.