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SUPER BLUE BLOOD MOON
A young Avoyelles Parish skywatcher observes the last sliver of the “super blue blood lunar eclipse” (just above treeline) at dawn on Jan. 31. The rare occurrence was a combination of a “supermoon,” when the moon is closest to Earth, a “blue moon,” which is the second full moon in a calendar month, a “blood moon,” when the moon takes on a red hue, and a lunar eclipse, caused by the moon passing through Earth’s shadow.

It had been over 151 years since all of these lunar events occurred at the same time in this country. This 5-year-old astronomer-to-be said he didn’t want to wait until he was 156 for the next one. {Photo by Raymond L. Daye}

Super blue blood lunar eclipse put on a show for Avoyelles skywatchers

On Jan. 31, those who were up at dawn and thought to look skyward saw something that had not been seen in this country since Johnson was in the White House.

That's Andrew, not Lyndon.

The "super blue blood lunar eclipse" combined four major moon-related events into one spectacle in the pre-dawn hours of Jan. 31. In Avoyelles, the moon was low to the horizon when the "blood moon" phase of the lunar eclipse occurred.

Many throughout the parish -- alerted by TV, radio and social media -- got up early to see what they could see. Fortunately, the sky was clear that Wednesday morning.

The rare occurrence was a combination of a “supermoon,” when the moon is closest to Earth, a “blue moon,” which is the second full moon in a calendar month, and a “blood moon,” when the moon turns red due to the sun's light directly reflecting off its surface during a lunar eclipse, which is when the moon's orbit passes through the Earth's shadow.

There may be a few supermoons each year and blue moons occur once every three or four years. Lunar eclipses are fairly common, counting total and partial. A blood moon during an eclipse is rare by itself.

To have all of these happening at the same time was a once in a couple of lifetimes event.

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