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Trifecta moon invades local skies

Kathleen Woodford Mineral Independent | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 6 years, 9 months AGO
by Kathleen Woodford Mineral Independent
| February 7, 2018 12:31 PM

It was trifecta of sorts when the moon started to set on Jan. 31.

It was a supermoon, a blue moon and a total lunar eclipse and was a phenomenon not seen in America in 150 years.

A supermoon is when it is the closest distance to Earth in its elliptic orbit. A blue moon is the second of two full moons in a calendar month, and a lunar eclipse is when it is entirely inside the Earth’s shadow.

At around 6:20 a.m. Wednesday all three could be witnessed.

It was a cold, crisp morning and the moon could be seen intermittenly as clouds drifted in and out from view. The moon didn’t look blue but was actually a tiny orange dot in the sky.

It finally gave way to complete darkness as the eclipse reached its totality. By 7:20 a.m. the shadow had passed and the moon once again shone bright in the western sky.

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