New Year’s Supermoon: 2 In January, Plus Blue Moon, Lunar Eclipse

The New Year’s Day supermoon will light up snow covering much of the northern half of the United States, making for stunning photographs — if you can stand to be outside during an Arctic blast that has plunged the Plains, Midwest, South and East into a record-shattering territory. If you miss it, there’s another chance to experience a supermoon this month — on Jan. 31, and it will be extra special because it also is a “blue moon,” the handle given to the second full moon in a month. And, if you’re in the right place, you’ll see a total lunar eclipse on the last day of the month, too.

The Jan. 1-2 supermoon is the second in a trilogy that began on Dec. 3. If local weather conditions allow, the best time to see it is around 9:24 p.m. on the evening of Jan. 1.

Supermoons aren’t really larger and brighter than other moons, but they appear so because they’re closer to the Earth in their orbit. As NASA explains it, because the moon’s orbit is elliptical, one side (apogee) is about 30,000 miles farther from Earth than the other (perigee). Nearby perigee full Moons appear about 14 percent bigger and 30 percent brighter than full moons that occur near apogee in the moon's orbit.

“It’s hard for our eyes to distinguish these small changes in size when the moon is high amidst the vastness of the night sky,” NASA said on its website. “But any time you catch a full Moon as it rises or sets, while it’s suspended low on the horizon beaming through the silhouettes of trees or buildings, its apparent size might make you do a double-take.

"You almost feel as though you could reach out, grab the glowing orb, and drop it into your coffee cup. Even more so if it’s a supermoon.”

The first January full moon was also known as the Wolf Moon by early Native American tribes because that's when hungry wolf packs howled outside their camps. It also has been called the Snow Moon, the Old Moon and the Moon After Yule.

And here’s something you may not know: Full moons and supermoons can be deadly. According to a study published last month in the British Medical Journal, the full moon is associated with an increased risk of fatal motorcycle crashes, although the study’s authors did not rule out other possible factors.

Still, the study’s authors said: “An awareness of the risk might encourage motorcyclists to ride with extra care during a full moon and, more generally, to appreciate the power of seemingly minor distractions at all times.”

More About The Jan. 31 Supermoon

The Jan. 31 supermoon won’t appear as big and bright as the one on New Year’s Day, and it will gradually lose its brightness during a total lunar eclipse that will be visible from eastern Asia, across the Pacific Ocean and in western parts of North America.

During a lunar eclipse, the moon takes on a reddish hue and it is sometimes called a “blood moon.”

“With the total eclipse, it’ll be a royal spectacle indeed: a ‘super blue blood’ moon,” NASA says.

Catch The Quadrantids Meteor Shower

Also this month, catch the annual Quadrantids meteor shower, which runs Jan. 1-5 and peaks on Jan. 3-4, offers about 40 meteors an hour at its peak. It has the potential to be dazzling, but weather conditions often make for unpleasant viewing, the peak only lasts only a few hours and a nearly full moon will wash out all but the brightest of the shooting stars. The shower is produced by dust grains left behind by an extinct comet known as 2003 EH1, discovered only 15 years ago. Patient skywatchers may see a few blazing meteors despite the nearly full moon They radiate from the constellation Bootes, but are visible anywhere in the sky.

If it’s too cold to go outside and gaze at the New Year’s supermoon, you can watch it live on the Virtual Telescope Project 2.0 in the video above.

See Also: 2018 Guide To Meteor Showers, Supermoons, Lunar Eclipse

(AP Photo/Julio Cortez)