Before we even get into the celestial specifics of Sunday night’s lunar eclipse, let’s say a word about its name, the “super wolf blood moon.” Like a cross between a ‘90s Nintendo game and a psychedelia band, it’s an absurd moniker, so we’re just going to call it “the eclipse.” Cool? Cool.
On January 20, Earth’s shadow will completely cover up the moon to create the year’s only total lunar eclipse. The phenomenon occurs when the three bodies are aligned just so, where the moon will first pass through the Earth’s penumbra, the shadow it casts from the opposite-facing sun’s light, and into the umbra, the even darker shadow.
The edge of the moon will begin to enter the penumbra at 6:36pm PST, according to NASA’s JPL. The moon will dim for the next hour or so after that, while complete darkness will begin to sweep across the satellite at 8:41pm. At that point, the light scattered from Earth’s atmosphere will give the moon a red-orange appearance. The moment of greatest coverage will occur at 9:12pm, and should be viewable until about 9:43pm.
At the time of greatest coverage, the moon will be 99 degrees east in the sky (that’s pretty much due east) and at 49 degrees altitude, which puts it slightly above halfway between the horizon and directly overhead. The good news: That means you should be able to view it from an spot with even a moderately clear shot of the sky (so, honestly, no need to brave the crowds at the Griffith Observatory, unless you’re looking for some telescopes). Just a heads up, though, that we could see an increasing amount of cloud cover as the night goes on.
So why the dumb name? Well, “super” refers to the moon being at its closest point to Earth in its orbit, “blood” references its color and “wolf” comes from the first full moon of the year being traditionally dubbed a “wolf moon.”